Applications are open for Spring 2020 Buchanan Library Fellows.
The Buchanan Library Fellows Program
The Buchanan Library Fellowship program is designed to create in-depth learning experiences for students. The program is open to undergraduate students who are interested in participating in strategic projects for Vanderbilt Libraries over the course of a semester. With faculty and professional librarians as mentors, students work on tactical library projects that will benefit library users. Fellows commit to attending weekly seminars where they work together on multidisciplinary teams to complete their project. They present their work at the end of their fellowship. Selected students learn new skills and complete immersive projects that add to their expertise and resumes. Projects may involve work with rare print and digital collections enhancing accessibility, social media, exhibits and print resources. Through the Buchanan Library Fellowship program, our libraries promote undergraduate research.
Program Benefits
- Opportunity to add discrete project to resume and build contacts
- Expand research skills
- Applied learning opportunity
- 10 weekly classes supplement independent teamwork
- Work with leading experts in the library field
Spring 2020 Fellowships
Cursive & Recursive: Generating Transcriptions of Archival Documents Using Machine Learning Apply Here
*This program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.
Vanderbilt’s Special Collections has a wealth of handwritten or early modern material that is difficult for computers to read. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) has come a long way, but still struggles with these texts. We will digitize select manuscripts (or bring your own from your research) and learn to produce transcriptions using machine learning techniques to teach the computer to recognize handwriting. We will then build a simple web exhibit displaying the digitized manuscript and its transcription side by side. You will learn project management skills, collaboration, and version control with Github; learn how machine learning works and when it doesn’t; and learn data management and project documentation best practices. Contact: Sarah Swanz, Nathan Jones
Encoding Music Manuscripts in Vanderbilt University Special Collections Apply Here
The Music Encoding Initiative (MEI) is the musical parallel to the Text Encoding Initiative (TEI). Used in various musical digital editions across the globe, MEI has in recent years arisen to become the premiere application of digital humanities methods in the sphere of music scholarship and analysis. This project seeks to acquaint a new generation of students to the nuts and bolts of coding notated music as applied to manuscripts held by the Libraries’ Special Collections. As well as developing skills in coding and project management, students will explore how music is distinct from, overlaps with, and can be connected to other subject areas within the larger digital community. The conclusion of the project will consist of a public presentation. Prerequisites: 1) Ability to read notated music; 2) Unless cleared in advance, attendance at the MEI Workshop over Fall Break, 24-27 October 2019. Contacts: Jake Schaub, Dr. Joy Calico.
Ethics of Information Apply Here
Even before we learn to read, humans consume information through a variety of formats – children’s books, fiction and non-fiction, academic scholarship, and more. The internet has made the consumption of information easier than ever, but also brings with it issues related to access, privacy, and ethical concerns. In this seminar, fellows will explore issues related to technology and ethics by examining a variety of information genres and discussing strategies for engaging with information in its many forms with a critical eye. Using a variety of formats (such as a podcast, presentation, or video Public Service Announcement), Fellows will create final projects that analyze issues related to ethics and privacy. Contacts: Melissa Mallon, Andrew Wesolek
Gateway to Traditional Chinese Monuments: Data Curation and Web Development for Cultural Heritage Preservation Apply Here
*This program is open to both undergraduate and graduate students.
Recipients of this fellowship will help faculty to develop data for Architectura Sinica, a Chinese architectural history dynamic site archive and architectural thesaurus. Students work with A&S faculty and library staff to develop entries on individual sites and/or add visual material for thesaurus of technical terms for Traditional Chinese Architecture. Students are acknowledged as co-authors for digital publication of the entries they complete. Pre- or co-requisite of History of East Asian Art (HART 1200) or Architecture and the Mapping of Empire in Asia (HART 2100), or faculty recommendation is required to participate. Contacts: Yuh-Fen Benda, Dr. Tracy Miller
Once and Future Book Apply Here
Everyone knows what a book is. But what do ‘gutters,’ ‘fore-edges,’ ‘diapers,’’ ‘running heads,’ and ‘pilcrows’ have to do with books? In this course, students will learn interesting and amusing stories behind useful, though specialized terms in the history of communication from medieval manuscripts to digital publishing. Along the way, students will study the history of books and printing from pamphlet wars to the e-book revolution and from the anatomy of the book to the aesthetics of book making. The class will include a group of undergraduates who have been designated as library fellows. As a group, the fellows will select examples in our special collections and learn how to curate an exhibition–online and in the Library’s Second Floor Gallery. Fellows will present on their work at a reception where everyone is welcome. Contacts: Mary Anne Caton, Rachel Lavenda
Student Perceptions of Art on Campus: A Vanderbilt Mapping Project Apply Here
Students will use a variety of technology to document, catalog, and map all the art on campus (inside and out). Through this process, students gather a detailed record of what forms of art are found across the campus. Students will develop, collectively, their own methodologies and rules for what they deem as art and worth including in our mapping project. The results of this project will cumulate in a dynamic, interactive, web map as well as a report for publication. Contact: Stacy Curry-Johnson
Vanderbilt Historical Tree Tour Apply Here
The Vanderbilt Arboretum has a long history that has been documented on its website and blog.
For some time, there have been plans to create a self-guiding tour focused on historical trees present on Vanderbilt’s campus. This project will create a portable device-based tree tour that will allow users to locate historical trees and learn about the history of the trees and the university through links to additional information on the Arboretum website. The project will involve photography, metadata management, web design, and historical research in the Libraries’ Special Collections and University Archives. Contact: Steven Baskauf