Time Commitment: 10 hours/week | Work Dates: January 2019 - April 2019 | Rate: $20/hour

INTRODUCTION

The Division of Libraries, Center for Data Science, and Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute at New York University seek graduate student to work on an innovative, IMLS-funded project working to preserve interactive web applications for data journalism. These applications have two parts: the back-end typically consisting of a database, and a front-end consisting of visualizations and other interactive web technologies. To fully capture these disparate parts, the Project Team will work to integrate ReproZip (an open source tool for reproducible research) front-end web crawlers (e.g. Webrecorder) into one tool to fully capture functionality of modern interactive web applications. The project team includes data journalists, librarians, and software engineers.

For this project, the Graduate Assistant will work specifically on testing the functionality of the prototype, documenting the experience. The Graduate Assistant will work with like-minded and very talented students, research scientists, and faculty to improve web archiving and digital preservation.

RESPONSIBILITIES

The Graduate Assistant will work with the ReproZip developers to test the prototype, add cataloguing metadata, and plan for additional refinements to new functionality added to ReproZip. Reporting to the Project Manager, the Graduate Assistant will be tasked with completing two essential parts related to this project work:

• Assist the Project Manager in testing prototype tool with data journalism apps provided by members of the community.
• This includes locally installing web applications, the prototype archiving tool, and testing how much is captured. From there, the Assistant will document the workflow, process, and results.
• Document functional specifications to hand to software developers, and document user-facing workflow to hand to newsrooms.
• The Assistant will work with the Developer to update the prototype functionality and testing as updates come. The Assistant will also assist in writing final documentation for users.

QUALIFICATIONS

Required:

• Pursuing a Master’s degree in Data Science, Computer Science, related technical fields, or equivalent programming background
• Interest in data visualization on the web, particularly interactive applications
• Excellent documentation practices
• Awareness of/ability to research current relevant efforts in digital preservation
• Ability to work on Linux OS

Preferred:

• Proficiency and knowledge in descriptive metadata standards (e.g. DDI)
• Ability to work independently and complete tasks
• Ability to work effectively in a team environment
• Demonstrable critical thinking and creative problem solving skills
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in writing and in person, particularly to explain technical ideas in a concise way to others
• Ability to prioritize and manage multiple requirements simultaneously

TO APPLY

Please submit your CV, unofficial transcript, and references to rz-dj-jobs@nyu.edu.