Save the Dates – Announcing CurateGear and BitCurator Users Forum

Curate Gear 2016 – Thursday, January 14th, 2016
2nd Annual BitCurator User Forum – Friday, January 15th, 2016

January will once again be a big month in Chapel Hill for those interested in digital curation. On January 14, we’ll be hosting CurateGear 2016: Enabling the Curation of Digital Collections. This will be the fifth year that we’ve run this interactive day-long event focused on digital curation tools and methods. Participants see demonstrations, hear about the latest developments, and discuss application in professional contexts. We don’t yet have the program for 2016, but you can get a sense of the content and format by visiting the agendas from previous years:

http://ils.unc.edu/digccurr/curategear2015.html
http://ils.unc.edu/digccurr/curategear2014.html
http://ils.unc.edu/digccurr/curategear2013.html
http://ils.unc.edu/digccurr/2012symposium.html

On January 15, we’ll be running the second BitCurator Users Forum, hosted by the BitCurator Consortium.

You can see information about last year’s BUF at:
http://educopia.org/events/buf2015

The BCC Program Committee will be developing the agenda for this year.
Stay tuned for further information.

We hope to see you in Chapel Hill in January!

Webinar on Using BitCurator

In this webinar given to members of the Association of Southern Research Libraries (ASERL), Matthew Farrell from Duke University Archives describes his work in digital forensics and the use of BitCurator at the Rubenstein Library. In addition to serving as the Digital Records Archivist at Duke, Farrell is also a member of the BitCurator Access Advisory Board.

Presentation slides

BitCurator Takes Vienna!

Cal and Kam just returned from teaching a one-day workshop at the Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT) in Vienna, Austria! The workshop was sponsored by the Open Preservation Foundation, which seeks to promote best practices for the long-term preservation of digital cultural heritage materials.

During the workshop, participants were able to gain hands-on experience using BitCurator tools, including our latest developments with BitCurator Access. Participants were encouraged to bring disk images from their own collections, in an effort to present and discuss real-world use cases faced by institutions. The workshop focused on using the BitCurator environment to assist with various aspects of digital curation, including pre-imaging data triage; forensic disk imaging; file system analysis and reporting; identification of private and individually identifying information; and export of technical and other metadata. Workshop participants came from five different European countries: Austria, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

11201124_10102141245433873_8239580283341734840_o

BitCurator Access Software Developer Needed!

Would you like to help build software to automatically redact private and sensitive information from large data objects such as disk images?
The BitCurator Access team is looking for a software developer to join us during the summer.

The Software Developer will write, test and document software to redact – at both the block level and the file level – patterns identified within born-digital materials. S/he will report to Kam Woods, the Technical Lead of the BitCurator Access project.

Required:
– At least one year of Python development experience
– Working knowledge of file system structures and modern file system metadata
– Working knowledge of XML schema design and Python libraries/wrappers to manipulate XML structures (e.g. Expat, ElementTree)
– Must be comfortable using revision control with git and GitHub
– Working knowledge of Linux development environments

Desirable:
– Prior experience with open source digital forensics libraries and tools (e.g. The Sleuth Kit, libewf, Digital Forensics XML)
– Familiarity with Python scientific and data analysis libraries (SciPy and Pandas in particular)

Compensation:
Up to $25 per hour based on experience. Work to be performed over the summer.

About BitCurator Access:
BitCurator Access is an Andrew W. Mellon grant-funded project housed in the School of Library and Information Science at UNC. Our team is working on bringing tools and techniques from the world of digital forensics to libraries, archives, and museums, enabling long-term access to complex legacy digital materials.

If you have any questions about this position, please contact us at bitcurator@gmail.com.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer and welcomes all to apply regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, age, religion, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.
We also encourage protected veterans and individuals with disabilities to apply.

To apply, please go to: http://unc.peopleadmin.com/postings/75915

BitCurator Consortium Internship

The BitCurator Consortium (BCC) and The Educopia Institute are looking to hire an intern. To learn more about this opportunity, please read below!

Description
Responsible to: Educopia Executive Director

The BitCurator Consortium intern will be responsible for the management of programmatic activities for the BitCurator Consortium (BCC). The intern will be a self-starter with a passionate belief in the importance of digital preservation activities in archives, libraries, and museums.

This position will bear responsibility for a variety of administrative and research-oriented tasks, including: proofreading documents, managing scheduling, taking minutes at meetings, assisting with event hosting, assisting with outreach activities, drafting and updating documentation, and researching best practices for model policies.

The intern will be expected to work 10-15 hours per week, and will be paid $12 per hour.

Responsibilities include:
1. Maintaining content on the BCC website and affiliated resources (e.g., training videos and presentations, bibliography)
2. Making arrangements and sending reminders for meetings with members
3. Recording and disseminating detailed meeting minutes
4. Preparing BCC outreach communications and instruments for conferences and other hosted events
5. Assisting with the creation and population of a library of model documents (policies, workflows, contracts, etc)
6. Assisting with the update and revision of training materials and “how to” resources
7. Assisting with the creation of training and professional development activities/proposals

Qualifications
– Exceptional written and oral communication skills
– Demonstrated interest and involvement in the digital library and digital preservation communities
– Ability to work under pressure, to adjust to change, to handle multiple tasks, and to coordinate the work of extended groups of member representatives

Preferred
– Experience in managing collaborative projects
– Proven ability to produce/execute reports and project plans

Instructions to applicants
Please submit a resume, cover letter, and three professional references to Katherine Skinner (Executive Director, Educopia):
katherine@educopia.org. Application deadline is May 29, 2015. Candidates will be considered until the position is filled.

The Educopia Institute is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Institution committed to diversity in its employment and educational programs, thereby creating a welcoming environment for everyone.