As the largest university library system in the Washington D.C.-Baltimore
area, the University of Maryland Libraries serve 37,000 students and faculty
of the flagship College Park campus. The University of Maryland Libraries
share the teaching, learning and research goals of the university. Its role as
a key academic resource is evident in its service to the academic community
and its actionable strategic plan.

  
With collections including 3.7 million volumes and more 350 databases, the
University of Maryland Libraries allocate 75 percent of its materials budget
to electronic resources. Maryland ranks 50th among the 115 member libraries of
the Association of Research Libraries and has an operating budget of $23.7
million. The University of Maryland Libraries benefit from being situated
geographically within minutes of the nation's capital and its departments,
agencies, and research centers.

  
Position Summary/Purpose of Position: The University of Maryland Libraries
seeks a self-directed, production-oriented individual for the position of
Project Manager with the Historic Maryland Newspapers initiative, a two-year
project (with the possibility for renewal) funded by the National Endowment
for the Humanities (NEH) and supported by the Library of Congress (LC) under
the auspices of the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). Historic
Maryland Newspapers will select, digitize, and contribute to the Library of
Congress' Chronicling of America collection approximately 100,000 pages from
historically- and culturally-significant newspapers from across the state of
Maryland.

  
This position is funded by a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant
to begin digitization of Maryland's microfilmed newspapers. Historic Maryland
Newspapers, a part of the National Digital Newspaper Program developed by NEH
and the Library of Congress, will digitize 100,000 Maryland newspaper pages
between the years of 1836 and 1922 during the two-year grant period.
Newspapers digitized as part of the grant award will be included in the
Library of Congress' Chronicling America database at
http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

  
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Project Manager will oversee the day-to-day activities of the Historic
Maryland Newspapers project and ensure that the project's objectives,
milestones, and requirements are met. This position will report to the
Manager, Digital Stewardship, and will be based at the University Libraries at
the University of Maryland in College Park. Specific duties may include (but
are not limited to):

  * Works with vendors to ensure quality deliverables and negotiate budgetary issues
  * In coordination with the Project Director, assists in managing the project budget
  * Reviews responses to the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the microfilm duplication, digitization, and optical character recognition
  * Oversees quality control (using both qualitative and quantitative measures) of digital assets produced by the project. Also, track and deliver all data to the Library of Congress
  * Develops and maintains tracking system for microfilm and digital deliverables
  * Supervises student employees performing microfilm shipping, quality control and other duties
  * Gathers project statistics and serve as a point of contact for the Advisory Board and interested members of the public
  * Supports collaboration of the project Advisory Board including by making logistical arrangements for an in-person meeting and managing online collaboration tools
  * Receives and edits title essays (500 words for each title digitized)
  * Manages the development of the project website
  * Creates documentation, and maintains complete and accurate records of all work performed
  * Delivers progress reports on specified semi-annual schedule to the Library of Congress and the NEH
  * Performs site visits to inspect master microfilm suitability
  * Attends annual NDNP meetings in Washington, D. C.
  * Performs other duties, as assigned
Minimum Qualifications:

  * Demonstrated ability to pay attention to detail;
  * Strong organizational and communication skills;
  * Demonstrated ability to prioritize tasks and document decisions and procedures; Demonstrated ability to learn new tasks and software applications quickly;
  * Demonstrated ability to work effectively with vendors and geographically dispersed colleagues;
  * Familiarity with digital conversion, and/or digital curation initiatives.
  
EDUCATION:

Required: Master's degree from an ALA-accredited program or foreign equivalent

  
EXPERIENCE:

Required: Experience and a solid understanding of digitization and/or
microfilm conversion projects, including microfilm inspection and suitability
for digitization; experience with XML and standards-based metadata schemas
(non-MARC and MARC) and principles governing standards in digital libraries;
knowledge of newspapers or serials, and ability to assess complex
relationships between titles; quality control experience; ability to learn new
tasks and software applications quickly; excellent organizational
skills.

  
Preferred: Experience with preservation microfilming and knowledge of best
practices; training or experience with newspaper digitization initiatives;
knowledge of the German language; demonstrated project management experience;
supervisory experience.



Brought to you by code4lib jobs: http://jobs.code4lib.org/job/4265/