The School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin is accepting applications from prospective PhD students interested in teaching and research in the area of digital libraries. Four scholarships are available through funding provided by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). Recipients of these scholarships will receive four years of funding to participate in a full-time residential program featuring in-depth research, innovative coursework, praxis-based teaching experiences, and active engagement with the wider scholarly community. Specific characteristics of the Cultivating Digital Librarianship Faculty (CDLF) program include:

  • Study and research centering on four areas critical to the next phase of digital library development: multimedia collections, digital library services, bridging physical and digital libraries, and digital library evaluation
  • Research-driven approach that pairs students with faculty for long-term, sustained scholarly investigations and analyses in order to prepare them for their own independent research efforts
  • Unique research and learning opportunities through partnerships and collaborations with the Internet Public Library and the world-class museums, special-collections, and extensive archives at UT Austin
  • Full tuition/fees and a substantial stipend for all four years of the program, beginning in the fall 2009 term

Program Support

Successful applicants will be provided with substantial support for all four years of the doctoral program. In addition to all tuition and fees, CDLF students will be provided with a stipend and/or research position yielding approximately $23,000 per year. This support is sufficient to cover modest living expenses, books, and the required annual travel to participate in the Joint Conference on Digital Libraries. Access to office space, laptops, server space, and technology support will also be provided to meet both coursework and research needs.

Application Requirements

The CDLF program seeks applicants with an unwavering commitment to completing a full-time, residential, research-centered doctoral program involving key questions in digital librarianship. We encourage applicants with education and experience in all areas of Information Studies including information architecture, academic librarianship, web development, special librarianship, database management, public librarianship, multimedia resources, archives, and museum services. The CDLF faculty are particularly interested in recruiting applicants who are interested in partnering with faculty, students, and practitioners on high-quality publications, scholarly presentations, and grant applications as part of their own preparation for seeking leadership positions.

The application procedure is the same as applying for the UT Austin PhD program. In your personal statement, however, you should state your interest in this IMLS scholarship and discuss how your background and research interests would match its goals. Applicants are strongly encouraged to identify at least one CDLF faculty member with whom to work. Application materials should address the potential match(es) in terms of applicant interest, experience, and goals. Applicants are encouraged to directly contact one or more of the faculty below to help identify a strong match.

In addition to the standard doctoral application, CDLF applicants should also complete the CDLF Application.

Participating Faculty Members

Students accepted to the University of Texas at Austin will work with either Luis Francisco-Revilla, Gary Geisler, or Lynn Westbrook. Below are the faculty research interests for the CDLF program and contact information:

Lynn Westbrook, Principal Investigator for CDLF
  • Assistant Professor, School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin
  • 512/232-7831; lynnwest@ischool.utexas.edu
  • http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~lynnwest/
Digital library services: Digital collections become fully functional digital libraries with the incorporation of effective digital services. Public librarians need an enhanced understanding of personal use of digital resources, including e-government infrastructures. Academic librarians need a more fine-grained understanding of the relationship between academic, information-encountering patterns and the resulting academic end-products. The interplay between affective and cognitive components of reference and instruction transactions becomes particularly crucial in the digital environment.
Gary Geisler, Co-Principal Investigator for CDLF
  • Assistant Professor, School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin
  • 512/232-2980; geisler@ischool.utexas.edu
  • http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~geisler/
Multimedia digital libraries: Many academic and research libraries hold significant multimedia collections that are of great value to their patrons. As collection owners increasingly consider creating digital libraries to showcase, advertise, or provide better access to their collections, a wide array of practical and research problems are emerging. Scholars must begin to consider stakeholder (owning institutions, collection donors, end-users) motivations for creating and using digital libraries while continuing to explore how technological developments can be leveraged to create richer, more useful, and more pleasurable access to multimedia collections.
Luis Francisco-Revilla, Co-Principal Investigator for CDLF
  • Assistant Professor, School of Information, The University of Texas at Austin
  • 512/232-2983; revilla@ischool.utexas.edu
  • http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~revilla/
Bridging digital and physical libraries: Many digital libraries are hosted under the umbrella of traditional institutions such as academic and scholarly libraries. As a result, digital libraries overlap with ‘physical’ libraries in terms of their organizational space, collections, services, and audiences. Despite the overlap between them, physical and digital libraries are often instantiated in two parallel, independent realities. New research must explore how to bridge these two realities in order to provide an integrated experience that allows patrons to combine and take advantage of the strengths of each kind of access.