We are so excited to be inviting applications for the position of Managing Director of Scholars’ Lab, in the University of Virginia Library. See posting 0618965 on the UVA HR site jobs.virginia.edu for more details (if need be, go to “Search Postings” link on upper left, enter the posting number).

We did slightly reword the posting from June 9, which said “Ph.D. required.”  See the 6-10-16 edition: “Graduate study (Ph.D. preferred) in the humanities, library/information sciences, social sciences or related discipline.” We were always open to the experienced, advanced applicant, Ph.D. requirement having been in HR wording but not in spirit. Now letter and spirit match.

We do hope for familiarity with graduate education and doctoral scholarship, for the good reason that Scholars’ Lab trains Ph.D. students in advanced research in digital humanities through the Praxis program and several DH dissertation fellowships each year. So graduate study is essential in the background of the new managing director. Scholars’ Lab engages in R&D, notably Neatline and the Makerspace, various projects by staff such as Take Back the Archive and Collective Biographies of Women, and a fascinating array of research and pedagogy in many disciplines, from GIS to textual analysis, including collaboration with the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African-American and African Studies.

UVA Library is a hub of diverse and innovative digital work, with teams working with many methods and platforms in addition to Scholars’ Lab. It’s going to be dazzling in the coming years, with our new University Librarian, John Unsworth. The Scholars’ Lab is fostering a community of practice by hosting the dh.virginia.edu site (in beta). Just this week in the Library, the Rare Book School course on digitization, run by Bethany Nowviskie and my colleague Andy Stauffer, hosted an engaging presentation by the Scholars’ Lab’s Jeremy Boggs and Purdom Lindblad on feminist interface and rich-prospect browsing. In other words, there is an active spirit of collaboration and a deep bench of expertise. As Academic Director, I see an auspicious alignment of stars in the current administration of Arts and Sciences, ITS, and other schools. It will be a great moment to unite energies and participate in this next phase of open-access humanities research, more library-centered than ever.   .

Laura Miller and I will be happy to answer any questions about the position.