Graduate Specialist Positions

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Overview

The New Brunswick Libraries (NBL) Graduate Specialist Program
provides opportunities for Rutgers–New Brunswick graduate students to
use and develop their skills in a variety of methodologies while working
with the Libraries to deliver consulting, workshops, and training.
NBL hires Graduate Specialists to provide support to researchers in
topics and methods of growing importance in the scholarly world.
Graduate Specialists help the Libraries to expand the range of services
offered by bringing advanced skillsets in the latest research methods
and tools. Additionally, the Graduate Specialist Program helps the
graduate students by giving them a place to prove and hone their skills
by bringing services to researchers, gaining significant marketable
experience along the way.

The Graduate Specialist Program is strongly and actively committed to
diversity and antiracism, and seeks to hire students who will engage
with diverse audiences and contribute creatively to the University’s
multicultural environment. We follow the University’s non-discrimination
policy.

As of Fall 2022, the New Brunswick Libraries have had several Graduate
Specialist positions: Diversity in Data (2), Digital Humanities (1),
Data Science (2), Qualitative Methods (1). Graduate Specialists earn $25
per hour.

For more information on the program, see https://libguides.rutgers.edu/graduatespecialist.

The positions advertised in the following document are for one Digital Humanities and Social Sciences (DHSS) Graduate Specialist, two Data Science Graduate Specialists, and one Diversity in Data Graduate Specialist.

Data Science Graduate Specialist (two positions)

As part of its Graduate Specialist program, the Rutgers New Brunswick
Libraries seek two Data Science Graduate Specialists to
provide instruction and consultation in data analytics tools and
methods. It is expected that the Data Science Graduate Specialists will
develop and deliver workshops, hold virtual office hours, and provide
e-mail help to the Rutgers community on their areas of expertise. For
Fall 2022, this work will be primarily online, but may include some
in-person workshops and consultations.

The first position will focus on statistical programming methods in data
science, ranging from introductory methods through machine learning
techniques. Python is the primary language in demand, but R or other
analytics tools can be explored, depending on the interests and skills
of the Graduate Specialist. This position will work under the
supervision of the Data Librarian to develop a program for service and
outreach.

The second position will provide instruction in the use of free or
widely available tools to clean, analyze, and visualize data, providing
content that is accessible to a general audience that may not have
coding skills. The specific tools supported will depend on the expertise
of the Graduate Specialist selected; some examples of tools are
OpenRefine, Excel, MySQL, and Tableau. This position will work under the
supervision of the Chemistry & Physics Librarian/Science Data
Specialist to develop a program for service and outreach.

Requirements

Successful applicants will be highly motivated individuals with a
strong interest in data science and instruction. Both positions require
strong knowledge of data analysis and data visualization, as well as
software and programming skills appropriate to the position (such as
Python or Tableau). Experience in providing instruction to students of
various skill levels is preferred. Intellectual curiosity and strong
interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to create
a welcoming and inclusive environment for learning, are required
qualifications for this position, as well as consistent availability for
8-12 hours per week of work during the semester.

Eligibility

These positions are open to current Rutgers–New Brunswick graduate
students in relevant disciplines who are eligible for on-campus
employment. Students with full-time enrollment status are preferred.

Compensation

These are one-semester, 10-hours-per-week positions paid at an hourly
rate of $25.00. The term of employment is September 5, 2022, to December
16, 2022 (15 weeks). Contingent on funding and performance, the
positions may be available to continue into the next academic year.

Application Process

Please submit the following materials via e-mail to Charlene Houser

• Resume or Curriculum Vitae
• Cover Letter describing you meet the requirements for the
  position; contributions you can make to this position and the New
  Brunswick Libraries; and how this position will advance your academic
  goals.
• Names and contact information for two (2) references

First consideration will be given to applications received by
August 15, 2022. You may apply for both positions with
one application – if doing so, please explain in your cover letter your
interests and qualifications for each aspect.

For questions regarding the Data Science Graduate Specialist positions, please contact Ryan Womack (Data Librarian) or Laura Palumbo (Science Data Specialist and Chemistry/Physics Librarian). See libguides.rutgers.edu/graduatespecialist for information about the Graduate Specialist Program, including workshops and guides developed by past graduate specialists.

Digital Humanities and Social Sciences Graduate Specialist

The New Brunswick Libraries seek a Digital Humanities and Social
Sciences (DHSS) Graduate Specialist to support the Libraries’ digital
humanities teaching and outreach. Digital Humanities describes any
application of computers in the humanities, and often involves methods
adapted from the social sciences. The DHSS Graduate Specialist will work
on activities tailored to his or her research interests and skills,
while acquiring a general understanding of digital humanities work at a
major research university.

Reporting to the Digital Humanities Librarian in Alexander Library, the
DHSS Graduate Specialist will develop an agenda of activities that will
include teaching workshops and providing consultations on various forms
of digital work. Some examples of approaches and methods that have been
taught in previous semesters: spatial approaches in the humanities,
gathering and organizing data according to “tidy data” principles,
computational text analysis, web scraping, digital collection and
exhibit building, and web publishing. The DHSS Graduate Specialist is
encouraged to have a strong interest in a particular area that they may
already be pursuing or plan to pursue.

Requirements

Successful applicants will be highly motivated individuals with a
strong interest in digital humanities work within an academic or GLAM
(galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) setting. Knowledge of one
or more digital humanities research methodologies is required.
Experience in providing instruction to students of various skill levels
is preferred. Intellectual curiosity and strong interpersonal and
communication skills, including the ability to create a welcoming and
inclusive environment for learning, are important qualifications for
this position, as well as consistent availability for 8-12 hours per
week of work during the semester.

Eligibility

The position is open to current Rutgers–New Brunswick graduate
students in a humanities or social science field who are eligible for
on-campus employment. Students with full-time enrollment status are
preferred.

Compensation

This is a one-semester, 10-hours-per-week position paid at an hourly
rate of $25.00. The term of employment is September 5, 2022, to December
16, 2021 (15 weeks).

Application Process

Please submit the following materials via e-mail to Charlene Houser

• Resume or Curriculum Vitae
• Cover letter describing how you meet the requirements for the
  position; contributions you can make to this position and to the New
  Brunswick Libraries; and how this position will advance your academic
  goals
• Names and contact information for two (2) references

First consideration will be given to applications received by
August 15, 2021.

For questions regarding the Digital Humanities and Social Sciences Graduate Specialist position, please contact Francesca Giannetti, Digital Humanities Librarian.

Diversity in Data Graduate Specialist

The New Brunswick Libraries seek a Diversity in Data Science
Graduate Specialist to investigate issues of diversity relating
to data science and present on their findings to the Rutgers Community.
Specifically, they will use cultural heritage material to paint a
picture of women, children, and local populations through topic mapping
and other neural networking techniques. The work location will follow
current Rutgers COVID guidelines, which currently require work to be
done on-site. It is anticipated that we will hire one Specialist, who
will work approximately ten hours per week for one semester. Outcomes
include presenting at one or more workshops on their findings and make
available summaries.

This position provides an opportunity for the graduate specialist to
conduct independent investigation of data practices that reflect
systemic racism, unconscious bias, distortion and marginalization of
underrepresented groups, best practices to overcome these problems, and
similar topics. A few examples of this kind of work are Data
Capitalism and Algorithmic Racism by Yeshimabeit Milner and Amy
Traub, Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim
Code by Ruha Benjamin, and Invisible Women: Data Bias in a
World Designed for Men by Caroline Criado Perez. This position will
work under the supervision of two research partners, the director of the
Office of Advanced Research Computing and associate director New
Brunswick Libraries, head of Special Collections and University
Archives. Together they will develop an agenda for research and
presentations.

Potential topics could include, but are not limited to, the
following:

• Authorship in historical records or literary texts. Data
  scientists talk about the ‘bag of words’ into which all texts have to be
  chopped up for NLP and data science analysis. But humanities scholars
  often need to know either who is saying those words, or where they occur
  in the narrative (e.g. it often matters whether words are being spoken
  at the beginning or end of a novel, or whether the characters speaking
  them are friends or enemies).
• Discovering less heard voices in archival documents, such as
  women, children, non-western people in documents in English.

Requirements

Successful applicants will be highly motivated individuals with
AI/machine learning knowledge and a strong interest in data issues
relating to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Intellectual curiosity and strong interpersonal and communication
skills, including the ability to create a welcoming and inclusive
environment for learning, are required qualifications for this
position.

Eligibility

• Applicants must be full-time graduate students in Rutgers
  University and expect to graduate no sooner than December 2022.
• Available to work approximately 10 hours per week during the
  semester
• Special consideration will be given to students in the library or
  information-science tracks with a variety of academic and work
  experience.

This position is open to Rutgers University graduate students in
relevant disciplines who are eligible for on-campus employment.

Compensation

This 10-hours-per-week position paid at an hourly rate of $25.00 for
the Fall 2022 semester. Contingent on funding and performance, the
position may be available to continue into the next semester.

Application Process

To apply, please provide the following materials: a cover letter describing your interest in the opportunity, and a resume/CV to Barr von Oehsen and Sonia Yaco.