Tempting Job Opportunities

I almost wish I'd known what Secretary Hand was before today, because I think this job listing from the Center for Early Modern History at the U of MN looks interesting.  I came very close to doing my master's thesis on XML markup instead of dystopias, and the rest of the listing is primarily tech (CMS), management, and project management.  All skills where I exhibit at least some competence.  Except for those pesky parts about paleography. I'm embarrassed I didn't know what secretary hand was after many years as a Tudor/Stuart history major.  Particularly as I read all sorts of documents no doubt translated from secretary hand originals.  The Wikipedia article even mentions a shift during the reign of Henry VII, which is where I focused most of my studies.

There are some neat tutorials out there that didn't exist when I was a college student, like this one from The National Archives and this basic Scottish secretary hand tutorial.  I hope someone kicks themselves some day for not knowing they should have learned NodeJS to read some of what I produced.  Who am I kidding.  They'll probably hire some poor intern to decipher bad Visual Basic Secret Santa Code.

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EMMO Project Manager, Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library seeks an energetic and experienced Project Manager for a 3-year IMLS grant-funded project, Early Modern Manuscripts Online (EMMO). The PM will work closely with the Curator of Manuscripts and associated staff on the planning, implementation and assessment of EMMO, a searchable database of transcribed and digitized early modern manuscript texts. The PM will: assist in the development and implementation of workflows for the execution of project activities; maintain project and content management systems for the project; manage and monitor the grant budget; and contribute to the testing, evaluation, and improvement of the transcription and tagging environment. Working closely with two grant-funded paleographers, the PM will also participate in the creation and sustaining of a community of volunteer transcribers.

 The ideal candidate will have an advanced subject degree in early modern English literature or history and an MLS, with training in early modern English paleography preferred. This position requires project management experience, preferably in a research library or museum setting. Experience with XML and project and content management systems, such as Drupal, and the ability to work in a collaborative, flexible, and creative environment, are necessary. Strong organizational skills, budget management experience, and outstanding communication skills are required. Preference will be given to candidates with experience in crowd-sourcing, scholarly textual editing, and the transcription of manuscripts in English secretary and other early modern hands. Interested individuals should email cover letter and resume to: Folger Shakespeare Library, EOE For details about the project, see the Folger research blog, The Collation: http://collation.folger.edu/2013/11/emmo-early-modern-manuscripts-online/.

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