Penn State University
The Penn State University Libraries offer a one-year CLIR Postdoctoral Fellowship in Academic Libraries, supporting an ethnographic study of faculty curation of personal digital research libraries. In collaboration with the project team, the Fellow will lead a one year research project, currently under funding consideration (expected notification date is March 2012). This Fellowship will provide hands-on experience facilitating an in-depth study of faculty research practices, as well as an exploration of the intellectual online workflow for disciplinary faculty in the humanities, sciences, and social sciences at Penn State University. The Fellow will be based in the University Libraries at University Park, and will work collaboratively as part of a project team, which includes Special Collections librarians, Scholarly Communication librarians, subject librarians, and disciplinary faculty across campus. Work may include designing and conducting interviews with faculty about their research process, data storage, and archiving practices; design of documentation methods; supervision of graduate assistants affiliated with the project; other research activities TBD as part of the study. If funded, the appointment would begin July 1, 2012, and conclude on June 30, 2013.
Desired Qualifications:
- Doctoral work in Anthropology
- Experience conducting ethnographic research
- Excellent project management skills
- Ability to work collaboratively with a variety of audiences on a project
- Ability to set priorities and manage work and deadlines independently
- Excellent oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills
The Libraries are now engaged in a range of activities to support the emerging needs of scholars by developing and extending a suite of digital publishing and curation services. The Libraries have partnered with Penn State Information Technology Services (ITS) to scope and define needs for these services to support the development of necessary infrastructure, which also extend to other forms of digital data, including electronic business records. Our profession has largely focused its attention on curation and archiving of the end-results of research: theses, dissertations, publications, research data. This fellowship offers a unique opportunity to help shape future library services by shedding light on the day-to-day practices of researchers in managing their own digital content when research is in progress.
Penn State, a land-grant institution, is a member of the CIC (Big 10) academic consortium. Based on current Association for Research Libraries investment rankings, Penn State is now ranked 9th out of 114 of the largest research libraries in North America. A Penn State student survey completed in 2010 found overall student satisfaction with the Libraries to be at the top of its category. The University Libraries are located at University Park and 22 other locations throughout Pennsylvania, and they serve approximately 6,000 faculty and 44,000 students at University Park, and more than 92,000 students system wide.
The University Park campus is set in the State College metropolitan area, a university town located in the heart of central Pennsylvania. The campus is within a half-day drive to Washington D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York City, and Pittsburgh. The University Park Airport is served by three major carriers with flights to Washington, Philadelphia, and Detroit. For more information, please visit http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/home.html
Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.