MITH is very pleased to announce its participation in a project just funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to develop a model internship program for placing Library and Information Science Masters students as interns in working digital humanities centers. The participants, which include the Information Schools at Maryland, the University of Texas, and the University of Michigan, as well as Nebraska’s Center for Digital Research in the Humanities and Michigan State’s MATRIX, alongside of MITH, will also work to develop a collaborative research program that draws on complementary areas of expertise and interest in the digital humanities and information studies.

KARI KRAUS, Assistant Professor in the iSchool at Maryland with a joint appointment in the Department of English, is the principal investigator for the three-year $590,000 award.

According to Kraus, “There is tremendous interest among our MLS students in the digital humanities, in part because so many of them have an arts and humanities background. Digital humanities as a field provides a perfect bridge between their undergraduate and graduate degrees. Many of our students are eager to find work in digital libraries and the cultural heritage sector, and these internships will help prepare them to do that.” NEIL FRAISTAT, MITH’s Director and a local Co-PI on the grant, adds “We at MITH are delighted to be participating in this important program, which reflects the close ties we have forged with our own superb iSchool at the University of Maryland, as well as relationships we would like to build with other iSchools around the country. Together, we are helping to train the next generation of digital humanists.”

The funded planning stage for the project begins this fall, with the first of a total of eighteen internships available in summer 2009. For more information please contact Dr. Kari Kraus, kkraus at umd dot edu.

Coordinator (#112158)

CATEGORY

Exempt, full time

MITH is seeking a dynamic individual with excellent organizational and communications skills interested in a key position at the heart of a working digital humanities center. This is an ideal opportunity for anyone interested in the academic fields of digital humanities and new media but not seeking a research or primarily technical position.

The Coordinator oversees day to day operations at the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH, www.mith.umd.edu), working closely with the Director to coordinate and manage all operational, administrative, and financial activities, includng finance and budget, human resources, payroll, and grant administration; as well as developing budget projections and analyzing fiscal data. The Coordinator is also responsible for arrangements related to the many conferences and seminars that are integral to MITH’s activities.

Located in McKeldin Library at the heart of the campus, MITH is the University of Maryland’s primary intellectual hub for scholars and practitioners of digital humanities, new media, and cyberculture, as well as the home of the Electronic Literature Organization, the most prominent international group devoted to the writing, publishing and reading of electronic literature. MITH’s house research includes projects in text mining, tool building, visualization, digital libraries, electronic publishing, and digital preservation. We collaborate actively with allied campus units, including the University Libraries, the College of Information Science, and the Human Computer Interaction Lab. Situated just outside of Washington DC, MITH also offers all of the opportunities that come from the libraries, museums, and cultural institutions of the area.

QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s degree preferred. Demonstrated excellence in organizational and communications skills. Expert knowledge of Microsoft Office suite or equivalent tools, especially Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

START DATE

Immediately.

SALARY

High 30’s to mid 40’s.

DEADLINE

JUne 20, 2008 for best consideration.

TO APPLY

Submit letter of interest, current resume or vita, and contact information for three references to:

Chair, MITH Search Committee
Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities
B0131 McKeldin Library
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742

The University of Maryland is an Equal Opportunity Affirmative Action Employer. Women and minorities are encouraged to apply.

Web Programmer

The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH) at the University of Maryland in College Park is seeking a full time web programmer/designer to develop and maintain software and user interfaces for MITH’s projects, work with MITH fellows to create visual themes for their work, design print publicity for MITH’s work, and maintain MySQL databases for existing MITH projects.

The successful candidate will at the minimum have a bachelor’s degree and will be proficient in PHP, Adobe Flash/ActionScript, and JavaScript, able to use multimedia tools such as Photoshop and the GIMP as well as HTML and CSS to design and encode web pages, and be familiar with cross browser compatibility issues. The ability to work well individually and in a team environment and to produce high-quality work under tightly defined deadlines is essential.

Located in McKeldin Library at the heart of the campus, MITH is the University of Maryland’s primary intellectual hub for scholars and practitioners of digital humanities, new media, and cyberculture, as well as the home of the Electronic Literature Organization, the most prominent international group devoted to the writing, publishing and reading of electronic literature. MITH’s house research includes projects in text mining, tool building, visualization, digital libraries, electronic publishing, and digital preservation. We collaborate actively with allied campus units, including the University Libraries, the College of Information Science, and the Human Computer Interaction Lab. Situated just outside of Washington DC, MITH also offers all of the opportunities that come from the libraries, museums, and cultural institutions of the area.

Salary range, $45,000 - $55,000. Consideration of applications to begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. Applications from women and minorities are encouraged. To apply, please send a letter of application, CV, and the names, addresses, and current phone numbers of three professional references to:

Dr. Doug Reside
Chair, MITH Search, Software Programmer
Maryland Institute of Technology in the Humanities
B0131 McKeldin Library
University of Maryland Web
College Park, MD 20742
dreside at umd dot edu

“You are standing at the end of a road before a small brick building. Around you is a forest. A small stream flows out of the building and down a gully.”

Recognize these lines? They’re from the opening screen of Will Crowther’s ADVENTURE (1975), the first example of the genre known as interactive fiction and arguably our first example of a virtual world (and as such the distant ancestor to places like World of Warcraft and Second Life). There is also an appropriate literary resonance: this path in the forest where the straight way is lost is reminiscent of another great underground epic.

As part of our work on a project funded by the Library of Congress dedicated to Preserving Virtual Worlds (http://www.ndiipp.uiuc.edu/pca/), MITH will be hosting a table-read of the original version of ADVENTURE, recently recovered from backup tapes at Stanford University. We will read through the complete text of the game, and also (geeks that we are) have a look at its FORTRAN source code.

We’re inviting anyone with an interest in gaming, interactive fiction, or virtual worlds to join us for an hour or two on Thursday, May 15, at 12:00 noon in our conference room (MITH is located on the basement level of McKeldin Library). Appropriately, we will provide tasty food: pizza. As with all adventures, we’re unsure of where this one will end or exactly how we will get there. But there are sure to be breathtaking views along the way. Please RSVP to mgk at umd dot edu if you would like to attend.

A final reminder of the amazing Digital Diasporas conference beginning on campus later this week. We look forward to seeing many members of the MITH community at this landmark event.

We regret that Tuesday’s Digital Dialogue with Greg Crane has had to be canceled. We look forward to rescheduling with Greg for the fall.