Four RolesFour Roles for Digital Scholarsand the Skills They Need

Jeremy BoggsCreative Lead

Center for History and New Media

About Jeremy

‣ Creative Lead at the Center for History and New Media

‣ I'm a web designer/web developer/information architect/project manager.

‣ PhD student in the Department of History and Art History at Mason

‣ Currently teach Clio Wired 2 at George Mason, slated to teach History in the Digital Age at American University.

History and New Media at George Mason

History and New Media at Mason

‣ Two required new media courses

‣ Clio Wired 1 – Intellectual and theoretical issues

‣ Clio Wired 2 – Practical issues and skills

‣ Minor Field in History and New Media

‣ Two additional courses

‣ Independent readings

‣ Minor Field Statement

Mason’s History PhD Program

CHNM provides practical work opportunities for students interested in history and new media.

Four Roles

1 Project Manager

Project Manager

Project managers provide the tools, information, and contexts with which others on a project team can do their job. Document goals, requirements and milestones.

Project Manager – Skills and Tools

Some Skills and Tools:

‣ Project management software and techniques.

‣ Wikis and collaborative writing tools.

‣ Organizing and running meetings.

‣ Conference call, video chat.

‣ Balance theoretical and practical.

‣ Manage people.

Project Manager – Why?

Digital scholarship is best when it is collaborative. Project Managers strive for teamwork and cooperation, organize people with seemingly disparate skill sets to collaborate toward a common goal.

2 Information Manager

Information Manager

On individual and group level, information managers deal with the onslaught of information. They collect, sort, search, and share information in various ways.

Information Manager – Skills and Tools

‣ Search (More than Google).

‣ Using Zotero, CiteULike, Connotea, other bibliographic collecting and sharing services.

‣ RSS/Newsreader

‣ Metadata Standards

‣ Information Architecture

‣ Site Maps

‣ Page Wireframes

‣ Content Inventories

Information Manager – Why?

Abundance of available information makes managing it, critiquing it, using it effectively even more valuable. Need people who respect information, can help others find and use it.

3 Creative Director

Creative Director

Creative directors...direct creativity and creation of products. They foster it, live it, breathe it, expect it from their peers and coworkers.

Creative Director – Skills and Tools

‣ Basic graphic design knowledge; graphical composition

‣ HTML/CSS

‣ Basic programming – PHP, JavaScript

‣ Databases

‣ Image and video editing

‣ Mapping

‣ APIs

Creative Director – Why?

Creative Directors are critical users of tools and techniques; They want the best set of tools for the job at hand.

4 Outreach Coordinator

Outreach Coordinator

Outreach coordinators get the word out about a project, create networks and communities, and always look for new things others are doing.

Outreach Coordinator – Skills and Tools

‣ Twitter

‣ Weblogs

‣ RSS

‣ Facebook

‣ SlideShare

‣ Vimeo/YouTube

‣ Flickr/Image sharing

Outreach Coordinator – Why?

Information moves quickly, more projects are produced. Need skills of an outreach coordinator to track those changes, connect with users, ensure that your project is relevant outside your niche.

Old Roles, but New Skills

Thanks!

Contact me:‣ Email: jeremy@clioweb.org

‣ Instant Messenger – jboggs22 (AIM)

‣ Skype – chnm_jeremy_boggs

‣ ClioWeb – http://clioweb.org

‣ Twitter – http://twitter.com/clioweb

‣ Zotero – http://zotero.org/clioweb

‣ SlideShare – http://slideshare.com/clioweb