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Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is CLIR?
- The Council on Library and Information Resources is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining and improving access to information for future generations. In partnership with other institutions, CLIR helps create services that expand the concept of "library" and supports the providers and preservers of information.
Q: What is the Postdoctoral Fellowship in Academic Libraries?
- The program offers recent Ph.D. recipients opportunities to develop as scholars and teachers while learning about modern librarianship, digital resources, e-publishing, archives, and collection development both digital and analog.
Q: Who is eligible to apply?
- Applicants must have received a Ph.D. in a discipline no more than five years before applying (i.e., after January 1, 2005); if a Ph.D. has not yet been received, all work toward the degree (including dissertation defense and final dissertation editing) must be completed before starting the fellowship.
Q: What are the terms of the award?
- Remuneration varies by sponsoring institution; benefits and some travel expenses are also provided. Depending on the institution, fellowships are for either one or two years.
Q: Where do fellows live during their fellowship?
- Fellows must reside at their sponsoring institution for the duration of the fellowship.
Q: Which institutions have sponsored fellows?
- Appalachian College Association
- Bryn Mawr College
- Claremont University Consortium
- The College of Physicians of Philadelphia
- Johns Hopkins University
- Lehigh University
- McMaster University
- North Carolina State University
- Occidental College
- Pepperdine University
- Princeton University
- University of Alabama
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of California, Los Angeles
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
- University of Minnesota
- University of Nebraska
- University of North Carolina, Greensboro
- University of Southern California
- University of Virginia
- Yale University
Q: What is life like as a postdoctoral fellow?
- Fellows work in libraries where they learn about librarianship and the challenges facing the profession while simultaneously offering their expertise in current trends in research, pedagogy, technology, and digital formats. Fellows participate in the intellectual life of their institutions by working within the areas of academic librarianship; archives and archive management; special collections; curricular development; teaching and learning support (techno-pedagogy); and digital resource production and use.
Q: What are the program requirements?
- All fellows must attend an intensive summer seminar prior to the beginning of their fellowship. Hosted at Bryn Mawr College, the seminar will take place July 18-28, 2010. Fellows are also asked to share their work-in-progress through electronic portfolios; meet regularly in virtual seminars with leading figures in the fields of librarianship, the humanities, publishing, and other related areas; and attend conferences and professional meetings. Other requirements may vary by institution.
Q: What kinds of projects do fellows undertake?
Fellows have done the following:
- consulted on the best, pedagogically sound ways to integrate technology and digital materials into the undergraduate classroom;
- collaborated with librarians, archivists, and information technologists on the development of writing and research guides for students;
- participated in the design and implementation of metadata standards for faculty using digital visual resources in their teaching and research;
- worked in special collections and rare materials archives, learning and performing tasks including material review and selection, creation of catalogue records, metadata entry, and authoring of abstracts;
- authored front matter for printed catalogues in special collections;
- co-taught honors research skills courses;
- managed digital archives;
- advised on and contributed to inventories of digital projects in area collections;
- authored and consulted on grant proposals for digital projects;
- presented at national and international conferences in various areas of librarianship, archive management, metadata, humanities computing, and discipline-specific topics;
- taught bibliographic instruction sections for particular disciplines;
- proposed new courses that integrate library and archival research into the undergraduate curriculum.
- taught courses in academic departments pertaining to the fellows' area of specialization
- curated museum and library exhibitions
- organized conferences and colloquia
- traveled on behalf of host institution to conduct research in archives, libraries, and museums in the United States and Europe
Q: What types of careers are former fellows pursuing?
- Since 2004 when the program started, approximately half of former fellows are employed in libraries and half in adjunct or tenure-track teaching positions. Previous fellows are working as reference librarians and subject specialists, library administrators, assistant professors of literature, library consultants, writers, coordinators of faculty development and digital resource management, visiting professors and lecturers, and research associates. Several fellows are pursuing additional degrees in library and information sciences and/or technology. For more information about current and previous fellows, click here.
Q: How do I apply?
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