Are you an early career TU Delft researcher, interested in the future of libraries, museums and archives? Please consider applying as a Future Libraries Lab Researcher-in-residence 2022.
The Future Libraries Lab (FLL) is a unique collaboration between TU Delft and KB, National Library of the Netherlands. Together we explore the changing role of libraries, archives and museums as curators and keepers of knowledge and of facilitators of education and dialogue. The lab facilitates the interaction between students, researchers, and practitioners to foster the development of research and innovation activities that have the ambition to imagine and shape the future of libraries. To achieve this goal, and in collaboration with our partners, the Future Libraries Lab pursues a research agenda organized in four main themes: Knowledge Access and Discovery, Libraries for Individuals and Communities, Diversity and Inclusion in Future Libraries, and The Next Public Library: Innovation of the Library Building.
For 2022 we invite early career researchers of the TU Delft to become a Future Libraries Lab Researcher-in-residence. This program offers a unique chance for early career researchers of all TU Delft disciplines to work in the library with the Digital Scholarship team and KB data. You will be assisted by one of our research software engineers, an advisor, and collection and data specialists. The output of the project will be incorporated in the experimental platform of the KB, the KB Lab and showcased on the website of the Future Libraries Lab.
The KB and opening up our digital collections
The KB, National Library of the Netherlands, is a research library with a broad collection in the fields of Dutch history, culture and society. As a national library we aim to collect and store all (digital) publications that appear in the Netherlands, as well as a part of the international publications about the Netherlands. The KB is planning to have digitised and OCRed its entire collection of books, periodicals and newspapers from 1470 onward by the year 2030. Over 100 million book, newspaper and magazine pages are currently available via the search portals Delpher and DBNL, and we also offer born digital collections, such as our web archive, which contains 47 TB of data and consists of more than 21.000 websites.
Furthermore we play an important role in the public library field. We host the Online Library service where each member of a public library in the Netherlands can lend e-books, we monitor the developments of the public library field, identify trends in the public library field and facilitate several policy programs in the field of digital inclusion and digital citizenship. We also encourage the re-creation and reuse of digital collections, whether or not involving immersive technologies, e.g. artificial intelligence, AR/VR, 2D/3D, etc.
The FLL Researcher-in-Residence project will be carried out in the Research department of the KB and there will be one placement in 2022.
What kind of projects are we looking for?
We’re open to all kinds of projects that benefit your research and other users of the KB or public library field. All early-career researchers from TU Delft can apply. We specifically invite proposals from researchers of the following faculties: Industrial Design Engineering, Architecture and the Built Environment, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science and Industrial Design Engineering.
We encourage you to define your project by:
- Formulating a fundamental research question that stems from your field of expertise, and can be linked to the themes of the Future Libraries Lab.
- Formulating a project that makes clear which datasets you are planning to use. You can create your own datasets or use existing datasets from your field. You can also use existing KB data, such as papers, magazines, web archive and/or ground-truth sets. For more information about other possible collections, see our Data services website. We also offer derived datasets on our KB Lab and you can browse through our collection of newspapers, magazines, radio bulletins and books on Delpher and DBNL.
- Formulating a project that is different from the previous projects of the Future Libraries Lab.
Who are we looking for?
We’re looking for talented early career researchers of any nationality who are:
- A PhD student in the final stages of their PhD project or researchers that have obtained their PhD between 2017 and 2021;
- Working at any of the TU Delft faculties;
- Interested in using one (or more) of the digital collections of the KB;
- Available for 0.5 fte over a period of 6 months (preferably from Q1 2022 or Q3 2022);
- Able to spend at least 1 day a week at the KB premises for an on-site residency.
We wish to specifically invite researchers from underrepresented communities to submit a proposal.
What can we offer you?
- A secondment or short-term fixed contract with the KB for 0.5 fte for a period of 6 months based on your current salary with a maximum of 4514 euro gross per month for a fulltime position;
- Access to all datasets of the KB;
- Office facility;
- Travel expenses (up to a reasonable amount for the one-week visit in case of the remote residency);
- Support from a research software engineer, advisor, and collection and data specialists.
How do I apply?
Please use the template to formulate your research proposal and submit this as a pdf before 15 November 2021 via the email address dh@kb.nl, after having carefully read our terms and conditions. The form contains the following elements: details, project description (including research question, theoretical background and applied methods and techniques), outcomes, work plan, personal background, your availability in 2022 and a checkbox on our terms and conditions.
Before you start working on your proposal, we strongly advise you to contact dh@kb.nl in advance of proposal submission to discuss eligibility, project details, prerequisites, and KB support with the Digital Scholarship team.
Review process
All proposals will first be reviewed on eligibility by an internal KB committee and then forwarded to an committee of members of the Future Libraries Lab:
- prof. dr. Alessandro Bozzon (TU Delft)
- dr. Cynthia Liem (TU Delft)
- dr. Martijn Kleppe (KB)
- Marjolein Oomes (KB)
- dr. Irene Haslinger (University Library TU Delft)
All entries will be judged on:
- Originality and quality
- Link with the research themes of the Future Libraries Lab
- Feasibility (technically, legally and practically)
- Whether the end results are of use for a wider community
You will be notified of the outcome of this call by mid-December 2021.
For answers to more questions, read our FAQ. Please also read the terms of this call and placement.