Technology Specialist, Digital Public Library of America, Boston MA

Posted January 17, 2014

The Digital Public Library of America <http://dp.la> seeks a Technology Specialist to join its growing team and to further DPLA’s mission to bring together the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums, and make them freely available to all. A belief in this mission and the drive to accomplish it over time in a collaborative spirit both within and beyond the organization is essential.

The Technology Specialist will:

• Work as flexible member of a small team.

• Report to the Director for Technology, working to design, develop, test, integrate, support, and document user-facing applications and back-end systems.

• Support the philosophy of open source, shared, and community-built tools, scripts, and technologies.

• Be conversant and comfortable with digital library technologies and engage cultural heritage communities and consortial efforts.

• Support content management policies, process, and workflows, and contribute to the development of new ones.

• Demonstrate knowledge of, and experience with, web application and software development and data modeling.

• Collaborate with stakeholders to contribute to strategic and tactical planning and implementation of content stewardship applications and technologies.

• Maintain knowledge of emerging technologies to support the DPLA’s evolving services.

• Perform other related duties and participate in special projects as assigned.

Requirements

• Experience working in the context of a software development methodology.

• Experience with standard software and web application development tools and programming languages and technologies, including JavaScript, Python, JSON, and Ruby on Rails.

• Demonstrated experience working effectively in a team environment and the ability to interact well with stakeholders.

• Knowledge of Semantic Web and linked data concepts and technologies.

• Knowledge of library practices and data formats, including XML, OAI-PMH, MODS, MARC, and Dublin Core.

• Ability to administer PHP/MySQL applications such as WordPress and Omeka.

• Considerable knowledge of the methods and tools used in electronic data processing.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Excellent analytical and organizational skills.

Preferred

• Demonstrated desire to learn new toolsets and programming languages.

• Working knowledge of version control systems.

Like its collection, the DPLA is strongly committed to diversity in all of its forms. We provide a full set of benefits, including health care, life and disability insurance, and a retirement account. Starting salary is commensurate with experience.

The DPLA’s central office is in the Boston Public Library, in Copley Square in the heart of Boston, Massachusetts. The Technology Specialists will be located in the Boston area.

Please send a letter of interest, a resume/CV, and contact information for three references to [email protected]. Questions about the position may also be directed to that address.

About the DPLA

The Digital Public Library of America strives to contain the full breadth of human expression, from the written word, to works of art and culture, to records of America’s heritage, to the efforts and data of science. Since launching in April 2013, it has aggregated over 5.5 million items from over 1,100 institutions. The DPLA is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit.

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