*Position filled. Learn about current fellowship opportunities here.*
University of North Carolina Greensboro
Fellow for Digital Curation and Scholarship in African American Studies
About UNCG:
UNC Greensboro, located in the Piedmont Triad region of North Carolina, is a higher-research activity university as classified by the Carnegie Foundation. Founded in 1891 and one of the original three UNC system institutions, UNCG is one of the most diverse universities in the state with nearly 20,000 students and over 2,700 faculty and staff members representing more than 90 nationalities. With 17 Division I athletic teams, 85 undergraduate degrees in over 100 areas of study, as well as 74 master’s and 32 doctoral programs, UNCG is consistently recognized nationally among the top universities for academic excellence and value, with noted strengths in health and wellness, visual and performing arts, nursing, education, and more.
A wide range of student and faculty-centered services are the cornerstone of the UNC Greensboro University Libraries’ integral role in the community. As an essential component of education and research at UNC Greensboro, University Libraries offer access to more than four million print and digital items along with innovative programs, support services and expert personnel to assist patrons in achieving their academic and scholarly goals. For additional information, please visit library.uncg.edu.
About the project:
The Digital Library on American Slavery (DLAS) is an expanding resource produced by the UNC Greensboro University Libraries Information Technology and Electronic Resources Department compiling various independent online collections focused upon race and slavery in the American South, made searchable through a single, simple interface. DLAS includes two resources completed at UNCG: the Race and Slavery Petitions Project (drawn from over 17,000 legislative and county court petitions with data on more than 150,000 individuals) and and the North Carolina Runaway Slave Advertisements project (with more than 4,000 transcribed ads from North Carolina newspapers). Also included are data from Emory University’s Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Database and the State of California’s Slavery Era Insurance Registries.
In 2018, the University Libraries embarked upon a three-year NHPRC-funded project entitled People Not Property: Slave Deeds of North Carolina. People Not Property will greatly expand DLAS through the digitization and transcription of over 30,000 pages of slave deeds from 26 North Carolina counties.
Position summary:
Housed in the Electronic Resources and Information Technology Department and reporting to the digital projects coordinator, the Fellow for Digital Curation and Scholarship in African American Studies will also work closely with the head of the web development team. The fellow’s responsibilities will focus primarily on data manipulation and visualization, text mining, and GIS applications related to DLAS and other relevant collections as well as dissemination of this analysis in order to enhance the historical record and to increase the visibility and discoverability of DLAS.
Specific responsibilities:
- In consultation with the GIS and Data Visualization Librarian, develop and employ text mining and other tools to perform data analysis using the DLAS and other relevant datasets and collections in the University Libraries.
- Disseminate the results of this analysis via presentations and publications and make the tools developed available for research use as appropriate.
- Explore ways to integrate and expand discovery of data in DLAS, including exploration of authority control, field standardization and controlled vocabulary development, and data interoperability.
- Engage with scholars doing related work at other institutions to further collaboration, the sharing of data resources, and improved discovery across different institutional platforms.
- Collaborate with existing project management on data quality control and manipulation for the People Not Property
- Explore funding opportunities for continuing support of DLAS in general and the People Not Property project in specific.
- Participate in research projects using DLAS and other related projects to disseminate stories contained within the data and to increase visibility of the library, resulting in relevant presentations and publications in scholarly and other platforms.
Required Qualifications:
- Recent (within five years or before beginning fellowship) Ph.D. in any discipline with relevant expertise in African American and African Studies.
- Subject expertise in the area of slavery and enslaved persons, 18th and 19th century Southern history, as evidenced by presentations, publications, and coursework.
- Research background including some experience with GIS, data mining, and data visualization tools (e.g. ArcGIS, Tableau, others) and ability to learn new tools as required.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Familiarity with data structures and metadata schemas for library and history applications (e.g. XML, MySQL, Dublin Core, MODS)
- Familiarity with digital imaging applications and standards
- Experience with grant writing and/or grant management.
Professional Development and Support:
- Regular meetings with supervisor, Electronic Resources and Information Technology Department, and relevant project teams (e.g. People Not Property team)
- Access to library staff travel budget to support professional conference attendance and presentations
- Introduction to grant writing and management through relevant contacts in the University Libraries and other units
- Opportunities for service on relevant library and university committees
- Consultations with GIS and Data Visualization Librarian
- Introductions to historians and other professionals within our existing network of contacts at UNCG and throughout the region
Salary and Benefits:
- Annual salary of $67,500.
- Two-year fixed term position, with full benefits (health insurance, paid time off, TIAA-CREF, etc.). See https://hrs.uncg.edu/Benefits for more information.
- Support for travel and conference attendance.
