Library Digital Initiatives Coordinator 
Princeton University Library 
Princeton, New Jersey 
Requisition # 0700335 

  

The Princeton University Library, one of the world's most respected 
research institutions, serves a diverse community of 6,600 students and 
1,100 faculty members with more than 6 million printed volumes, 5 
million manuscripts, and 2 million nonprint items. The holdings in its 
central library and 15 specialized libraries range from ancient papyri 
and incunabula to the most advanced electronic databases and digital 
collections. The Library employs a dedicated and knowledgeable staff of 
more than 300 professional and support personnel, complemented by a 
large student and hourly workforce. More information can be found at the 
Library's Web site:  http://libweb.princeton.edu 

Available: Immediately 

Description: Princeton University Library is seeking an energetic, 
creative, and experienced person to direct both the strategic and 
project planning for our local digitization efforts. The person in this 
position will also direct the development and implementation of the 
Library's digital collections interface and to develop the standards, 
policies and procedures for digitization projects library wide.  The 
Coordinator is responsible for overseeing the design and development of 
Princeton's digital library infrastructure, for managing the staff 
assigned to the program including the imaging and programming staff. 
Currently the Program consists of two Digital Imaging Studios with five 
staff, and three database management and programming staff. 
Major digital library projects underway at Princeton include 
digitization of a large collection of Islamic manuscripts, digitization 
of a large body of Chinese Rare Books, various manuscript, photographic, 
and book collections, as well as conversion of finding aids to EAD. 
The Coordinator will be an advocate for the program and will meet with 
various groups, including faculty, to explain the mission and solicit 
content suggestions. The Coordinator may need to be involved in all of: 
usability studies, materials preparation, copyright issues, 
costing/budget analysis, writing RFQ's for digitization work, etc.  This 
position will also work closely with relevant departments and staff in 
the planning and development of systems for supporting metadata creation 
and management, search, discovery, and presentation, as well as long 
term digital preservation. The Coordinator will work collaboratively 
with key management colleagues responsible for collections access 
operations in identifying and training staff to provide metadata for the 
Library's expanding corpus of digital content.  The Coordinator will 
provide on-going evaluation of current systems, as well as researching 
and/or recommending new software and hardware relevant to digital 
library development and sustainable workflows. 
This position chairs the Digital Library Operations Group, which is 
charged with coordinating and managing the internal technical resources 
necessary to produce and mount the Library's digital content, and works 
closely with the Deputy University Librarian in setting the agenda for 
the Digital Projects Steering Committee, which audits the progress of 
digital library projects, prioritizes content production for the digital 
library site, and helps to allocate staff resources from around the 
Library. 

Qualifications: Bachelor's Degree required. Advanced study in library, 
archives, or relevant technology areas. MLS and/or MS in Computer 
Science preferred. At least three years of experience in digital library 
development and project leadership. Advanced degree in an additional 
subject field preferred. Humanities background especially helpful. 
Excellent organizational, interpersonal and communication skills. 
Working knowledge of image capture and delivery technologies, full text 
mark-up and searching methods, and database management systems; in-depth 
knowledge of at least one of these areas. Knowledge of various current 
metadata standards for digital library content and XML markup techniques 
for them, and of MARC. Familiarity with the ways in which scholars and 
students use digital collections. Vision of the role of digital projects 
in the academic library. Demonstrated ability for successful project 
management, completing projects on time and within budget. Ability to 
facilitate decision making in a collaborative but complex environment. 
Knowledge of XML and its related standards and technologies; experience 
with web services techniques, protocols and standards; experience with 
one or more of the following programming languages: Java, XQuery, XSLT, 
and/or Ruby. Knowledge of native XML databases a plus. Familiarity with 
UNIX/Linux and Windows systems. Ability to integrate open source and 
commercial products.  Supervisory experience required. 
Reports to the Deputy University Librarian. 

Compensation and Benefits: Compensation will be competitive and 
commensurate with experience and accomplishments. Twenty-four (24) 
vacation days a year, plus eleven (11) paid holidays. Annuity program 
(TIAA/CREF), group life insurance, health coverage insurance, disability 
insurance, and other benefits are available. 

Nominations and Applications: Review of applications will begin 
immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Nominations 
and applications (cover letter, resume and the names, titles, addresses 
and phone numbers of three references) will be accepted only from the 
Jobs at Princeton website: http://www.princeton.edu/jobs 

  

PRINCETON UNIVERSITY IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION 
EMPLOYER. 
For information about applying to Princeton, please link to 
http://web.princeton.edu/sites/dof/ApplicantsInfo.htm