The Pennsylvania State University Libraries are currently seeking a Digital
Humanities Design Consultant who is a creative researcher interested in
exploring an "alternative academic" career and in expanding the modes of
humanistic research through emerging and existing
technologies. The person in this position will be a
critical part of initiating services and programs in support of the digital
humanities at Penn State, and will work as an intellectual partner with
faculty, students and staff in the College of the Liberal
Arts. The successful candidate will be able to work
effectively between the boundaries of various humanities disciplines to help
Penn State develop its digital humanities research
programs. He or she will collaborate effectively and
translate ideas and concepts between diverse audiences to enable the creation
of new knowledge and will have fluency with a variety of technologies and
direct experience in bringing technology to bear on research and
teaching. This is a fixed-term (multi-
year), non-tenure track, 2-year appointment based in the Publishing and
Curation Services department within the University Libraries and carries the
rank of Assistant Librarian. This
position reports to the Digital Content Strategist, but will be jointly funded
by the College of the Liberal Arts.

  
The Digital Humanities Design Consultant will be hired as part of The
Humanities in a Digital Age initiative (HDA). HDA is
intended to enrich and promote rigorous cross-disciplinary humanities
scholarship and research, to open new opportunities for high caliber graduate
placements in the humanities, and to enrich the undergraduate experience by
providing undergraduate students access to and support for cutting-edge
humanities research. This initiative will help develop new
services to support digitally enriched scholarship by graduate students and
faculty in a wider range of fields. Working together, the
Libraries and the College of Liberal Arts intend to build a community of
practice for the digital humanities at Penn State through programming,
services, and research collaborations. The consultant will be encouraged to
conduct/continue their own research. He or she will
participate in national and/or international initiatives or professional
activities which promote the development of a shared humanities research
infrastructure.

  
**Responsibilities:**  

  * Work directly with researchers to provide project definition and analysis, such as project scope, requirements, specifications and/or design.
  * Evaluate existing tools and technologies, and investigates emerging technologies to identify potential uses in humanities research.
  * Prototype demonstration projects and/or implements tools for use by others.
  * Collaborate with colleagues in the Libraries, Liberal Arts, and Information Technology Services to help ensure harmony among various technology infrastructures and needs.
  * Provide limited technical support for digital humanities research projects, including implementation of tools, technology, etc. to help researcher achieve goals.
  * Provide training, group instruction or workshops.
**Required Qualifications:**  
  
Requires an advanced degree in a humanities field; demonstrated
proficiency/fluency with one or more technologies commonly used in digital
humanities projects, such as database design and development, XML-encoding,
GIS; experience deploying information technology tools/services in his or her
own research; excellent communication skills; and a strong service
orientation. Preferred Qualifications include a PhD in a
humanities field and a record of professional presentations and/or
publications.

  
**Environment:**  
  
Penn State, a land-grant institution, is a member of the Committee on
Institutional Cooperation (CIC), a consortium of the Big Ten universities plus
the University of Chicago. Based on current Association for Research Libraries
investment rankings, Penn State is now among the top ten 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 Libraries hold membership in ARL, OCLC,
CRL, CLIR, and DLF. Collections exceed 5.8 million volumes, including more
than 102,000 current serial subscriptions. 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
Libraries work in collaboration with multiple campus partners as part of a
growing program of support for emerging scholarly communications
needs. These include the development of Publishing and
Curation Services, which oversees user services for ScholarSphere, a service
provided in collaboration with Information Technology
Services.

  
The College of the Liberal Arts at Penn State is home to more than 5200
undergraduates and 777 graduate students in twenty-one departments in the
humanities and social sciences. It serves the entire University community
through its extensive general education program in which typical Penn State
undergraduate students take nearly one-third of their courses. With 11 of our
programs placed in the top 25 percent of their respective disciplines in the
recent National Research Council rankings, the College of the Liberal Arts has
emerged as a one of the nation's premier public research liberal arts
colleges.

  
The University Park campus is set in the State College metropolitan area, a
university town located in the heart of central Pennsylvania. State College
offers a vibrant community with outstanding recreational facilities, a low
crime rate, and excellent public schools. 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 [www.libraries.psu.edu](http://www.libraries.psu.edu) and
[www.cbicc.org](http://www.cbicc.org/).

  
**Appointment Details:**  
  
Excellent fringe benefits include liberal vacation, excellent insurance, state
or TIAA/CREF retirement options, and educational
privileges. Faculty in the University Libraries carrying
the appointment of Fixed Term Multi-Year are afforded $1500 for professional
development travel annually. Faculty may be asked to travel
as official representatives of the Libraries to certain events and those trips
are reimbursed at full cost within limits established by the University.

  
**Application Instructions:**  
  
Send a letter of application, resume, and the names and contact information of
three references to Search Committee, The Pennsylvania State University, Box
DHDC-PSUL, 511 Paterno Library, University Park, PA 16802, or to
[[log in to unmask]](mailto:[log in to unmask]). Please be sure and
reference Box DHDC-PSUL in the email subject line. Review
of candidates will begin on November 5, 2012 and continue until the position
is filled. Employment will require successful completion of
background check(s) in accordance with University policies.

  
**Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity, and the diversity of its workforce.**



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