May 2007 Archives

The University Libraries are currently recruiting for a digitization services position. Please see job posting below:

Web & Digitization Application Developer, UNLV Libraries
http://www.higheredjobs.com/institution/details.cfm?JobCode=175237841

RESPONSIBILITIES

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries invites applications for the
position of Web & Digitization Application Developer.

This new professional faculty position, reporting to the Web Technical
Support Manager, will support the technical development and enhancement of
the UNLV Libraries' website and digital publishing initiatives. The
incumbent will enhance the UNLV Libraries' website and digitization
capabilities through the development of relational databases and authored
scripts extending the capabilities of the Libraries' website. The incumbent
will develop applications and programs to help crosswalk various kinds of
metadata information from one standard to another. The incumbent will
design, develop, and extend the user interface of the Libraries' digital
publishing platform (OCLC's CONTENTdm), customize templates to better
enhance the public CONTENTdm interface and functionality, and provide
troubleshooting assistance and serve as a library contact with CONTENTdm.
The incumbent will participate in general web development support,
including HTML coding and the creation of original web pages augmenting the
Libraries' website. For all website and digitization development efforts,
the incumbent is expected to create and maintain technical and client
documentation to help maintain developed applications and help guide future
development efforts.

As a strong partner in student learning, UNLV Libraries fosters information
literacy with innovative services, entrepreneurial staff, over one million
volumes, outstanding digital collections, up-to-date technology and
internationally renowned Special Collections in four modern, flexible
facilities. We welcome individuals with diverse backgrounds to join our
growing organization of over 120 highly-trained and experienced faculty
librarians and staff members supporting teaching, learning, research and
creative endeavors at one of the nation's fastest growing universities.

For more information, please visit
http://www.library.unlv.edu/employment.html

QUALIFICATIONS

Required: A bachelor's degree in computer science or related field from an
accredited college or university; two or more years professional experience
designing and modifying relational databases (such as MySQL); two or more
years professional programming experience (such as PHP, Perl, and a higher
level object oriented programming language such as Java or C++); two or
more years experience working within the UNIX operating system at the
command line level (Sun Solaris or Linux preferred); evidence of
documentation writing skills supporting developed applications. As part of
an interdisciplinary team, the incumbent is expected to have experience
working collaboratively and constructively with a wide range of groups and
individuals, and possess the ability to communicate with colleagues the
technical constraints, requirements, and resource needs associated with
work projects.

Preferred: A background in web site development, creation of backend
databases supporting database driven web sites, and previous experience
with the CONTENTdm publishing platform.

SALARY RANGE

This is a full-time, 12-month, non-tenure-track position at Range 2.
Salaries are competitive and dependent upon labor market. Position is
contingent upon funding.

APPLICATION DETAILS

Application materials must include a current resume, detailed cover letter,
and names, addresses, and telephone numbers of three professional
references who may be contacted. Applicants should fully describe
qualifications and experience, since the initial review will serve to
evaluate applicants based on documented, relevant qualifications and
professional work experience. The review of materials will begin
immediately. Materials should be addressed to, Web & Digitization
Application Developer Committee Chair, and submitted on-line at
https://hrsearch.unlv.edu/. For assistance with UNLV's on-line applicant
portal, contact Jen Feldmann at (702) 895-3886 or email hrsearch@unlv.edu

Recently, I helped out with a presentation for our Hot Topics discussion group that involved coming up with some web use statistics. There were some very interesting ones that indicated that in addition to research help, which we expect the site is used for, unique materials are another key feature that consistently brings in users from the web. For instance, Howard Hughes has been and continues to be a popular search term that delivers users to our site!

Interestingly, the meeting coincided with the publishing of a timely article titled, Using Wikipedia to Extend Digital Collections, which details the efforts the University of Washington has made to include links to their digital collections in relevant Wikipedia articles. I think this is a great idea and I have added a general link to UNLV Digital Collections on Lied Library's Wikipedia page and also added specific collection links on pages like the Hoover Dam and Showgirl pages. Since many people now turn to Wikipedia as a first source for general information I will be monitoring web statistics to track whether these links show a new trend of users linking in from Wikipedia.

Digital library leaders were recently featured on a May 11, 2007 Science Friday broadcast on National Public Radio. This podcast focuses on various projects including the Encyclopedia of Life and speakers Gary G. Borisy, Brewster Kahle (The Internet Archive), Michael S. Hart (Project Gutenburg), and Michael Keller (Stanford University).

I just returned from the School for Scanning 2007 in Minneapolis and was bombarded with a ton of information during the three days. One of the most interesting breakout sessions was with Franziska Frey from the Rochester Institute of Technology. In addition to discussing the changes in photography practice in recent times, Frey also discussed the imaging challenges that arise when digitization programs are confronted with an increasing amount of born digital materials.

This issue has started to come up here at UNLV, with questions directed to me asking what resolution something should be scanned at so that a donor can deposit a digital copy of their materials in Special Collections. Our Campus Photo Services staff have noted a drastic drop in darkroom processing requests from campus, and nationwide there are fewer new photographers learning these traditional developing skills. Now that film is no longer being as widely manufactured, and photographic paper and chemicals are starting to disappear this kind of question will only come up more often.

It is important to have a plan in place, and some standards to refer to. Because while we can put aside some preservation questions when we know we own the original analog item, we do not have this luxury when the original is digital. Frey recommends that photographers and the imaging industry work with cultural institutions so that digital photos being produced today can meet requirements for digital preservation and reuse, and she recommends that institutions consider formats, file sizes, and metadata when aquiring "born digital" collections.

What else will the future hold for digital imaging? Well, according to the experts we may see film die out completely and following film, our beloved scanners. Tom Blake from Boston Public Library gave us a virtual tour of the library Imaging Lab he manages and this model may be the way that digitization is headed. Imaging science, digital photography skills, and imaging studios with new technology/equipment may replace the ubiquitous desktop scanner and with these new spaces comes the need for knowledgeable staff to photograph materials.

A very interesting conference with some excellent faculty. Much to mull over in the coming weeks...