57 SPEC Kit 350: Supporting Digital Scholarship
New position N=7
Digital preservation began as an explicit program area in 2012 as a unit with the Curation and
Preservation Services department, and was separated out as its own area in January 2016. Digital
preservation has always included data curation and preservation and digital scholarship in its scope.
Formerly the e-Science Librarian, this current role works across disciplines to support faculty and
student researchers’ writing and executing data management and sharing plans as new funder public
access mandates emerge. The current incumbent has worked to provide a multitude of uses for the IR
(including data peer-review, data sharing deposits) and disciplinary repositories.
More focus on support for Mukurtu and CDSC technology.
Redefined responsibilities to support open access and digital publishing efforts.
The current position, “Digital Publishing and Preservation Librarian,” was redescribed from a previous
position “Metadata Librarian” (when the previous incumbent left that position). However, that prior
position was itself already dedicated to supporting digital scholarship (and existed since the creation of
the unit in 2007).
The current position, “Manager, Digital Library Services,” was redescribed from a previous position
‘‘Digital Projects Librarian” (as the result of a promotion of the incumbent) that was itself already
dedicated to support of digital scholarship (and existed since the creation of the unit in 2006).
This was a new position (created in 2012) but filled by someone who had been providing similar support
in different positions and reporting structures in the past.
Existing with right skills N=2
Position was initially scoped as a supervisor of development staff. In recent years the position has
evolved to become more highly collaborative on faculty and student DS projects.
This position formerly resided with a central IT unit focused on Academic Technologies.
Redefined by adding DS support N=33
A prior version of this position did not explicitly include responsibility for the Digital Library Program.
The position now oversees Library Core Systems (ILS, discovery services, etc.) and the Digital
Library Program.
A re-organization at the assistant/associate dean of the library level established a new portfolio
drawing digital scholarship and research into the existing IT portfolio to capitalize on the relationship
between IT and digital scholarship and to bring all of the programmers and designers together into one
administrative unit.
Added digital humanities support and liaison duties.
Added DS skills.
Added responsibilities related to digital scholarship and GIS.
Added scholarly communication activities and institutional repository management responsibilities.
Data management support had been the primary responsibility of a working group, but with the arrival
on staff of a person with a research data management background, the data specialist has taken on the
implementation of the Libraries’ data management strategies. The working group continues to provide
support to the Data Specialist.
Digital humanities program responsibility was added to this department head position at time of hire.
DS added.
New position N=7
Digital preservation began as an explicit program area in 2012 as a unit with the Curation and
Preservation Services department, and was separated out as its own area in January 2016. Digital
preservation has always included data curation and preservation and digital scholarship in its scope.
Formerly the e-Science Librarian, this current role works across disciplines to support faculty and
student researchers’ writing and executing data management and sharing plans as new funder public
access mandates emerge. The current incumbent has worked to provide a multitude of uses for the IR
(including data peer-review, data sharing deposits) and disciplinary repositories.
More focus on support for Mukurtu and CDSC technology.
Redefined responsibilities to support open access and digital publishing efforts.
The current position, “Digital Publishing and Preservation Librarian,” was redescribed from a previous
position “Metadata Librarian” (when the previous incumbent left that position). However, that prior
position was itself already dedicated to supporting digital scholarship (and existed since the creation of
the unit in 2007).
The current position, “Manager, Digital Library Services,” was redescribed from a previous position
‘‘Digital Projects Librarian” (as the result of a promotion of the incumbent) that was itself already
dedicated to support of digital scholarship (and existed since the creation of the unit in 2006).
This was a new position (created in 2012) but filled by someone who had been providing similar support
in different positions and reporting structures in the past.
Existing with right skills N=2
Position was initially scoped as a supervisor of development staff. In recent years the position has
evolved to become more highly collaborative on faculty and student DS projects.
This position formerly resided with a central IT unit focused on Academic Technologies.
Redefined by adding DS support N=33
A prior version of this position did not explicitly include responsibility for the Digital Library Program.
The position now oversees Library Core Systems (ILS, discovery services, etc.) and the Digital
Library Program.
A re-organization at the assistant/associate dean of the library level established a new portfolio
drawing digital scholarship and research into the existing IT portfolio to capitalize on the relationship
between IT and digital scholarship and to bring all of the programmers and designers together into one
administrative unit.
Added digital humanities support and liaison duties.
Added DS skills.
Added responsibilities related to digital scholarship and GIS.
Added scholarly communication activities and institutional repository management responsibilities.
Data management support had been the primary responsibility of a working group, but with the arrival
on staff of a person with a research data management background, the data specialist has taken on the
implementation of the Libraries’ data management strategies. The working group continues to provide
support to the Data Specialist.
Digital humanities program responsibility was added to this department head position at time of hire.
DS added.
