Hyku for Consortia User Experience (UX) Consultant 

10-20 hours per week, Short-term contract-based role 

Hyku for Consortia seeks a UX Consultant to work with project staff to develop and implement a series of user research activities determining the most useful updates for the Samvera-based Hyku digital repository software. 

The UX Consultant will determine the best activities for the project goals, develop resources and plans for activities, carry them out with selected candidates, and assist in the analysis of results. Research activities may include surveys, interviews, focus groups, usability tests or other related feedback mechanisms. The Consultant will work closely with and have the support of the project team to accomplish their goals. Prior experience with user research, excellent communication skills, and attention to detail will be essential in this role. 

This is a grant-funded part-time remote-working independent contractor role, with an estimated average of 10-15 hours per week needed to complete contracted deliverables between November 2021 and June 2022 subject to limitations described below. The position will report to the PALNI Executive Director. Flexible scheduling is available for many tasks, but the Consultant must have some availability to attend meetings during Monday-Friday, 11am-5pm EST.

Hyku for Consortia (see https://www.hykuforconsortia.org/) is a partnership of the PALNI and PALCI consortia to increase the flexibility, accessibility, and usability of the multi-tenant repository platform system, Hyku. This project will extend our previous work and improve the national digital repository infrastructure by enhancing Hyku, an open-source platform suitable for access to a broad range of types of materials, addressing needs articulated by diverse stakeholders and consortia and reducing barriers to adoption.  

Responsibility and Requirements:

• Demonstrated experience with gathering and analysing user research
• Understanding of user experience and accessibility best practices
• Familiarity with library/archives environments and digital repositories
• Knowledge of the academic library and scholarly research landscape
• Experience leading and facilitating group projects and meetings
• Experience with Samvera repository software a plus
• Detail-oriented, with demonstrated organizational and project management skills
• Demonstrated strength in writing, editing, and other communication skills
• Evidence of ability to work independently and as part of a team in remote work settings
• Proficiency and comfort with using modern collaboration technologies and productivity tools necessary for distributed, remote-work teams, including but not limited to Google’s suite of business tools (Google Docs, Sheets, and Forms), project management software, such as Trello, online survey software, and web conferencing technologies, such as Zoom
• Commitment to a high level of productivity, and excellent communication

Compensation 

Compensation will be based upon delivery of contracted services. Hyku for Consortia anticipates an average of 10-20 hours per week required across the term of the contract, with payment delivered on a monthly schedule based upon successful completion of contracted deliverables. We anticipate a total of 200-245 hours for the set of deliverables we need, and we expect to pay an hourly rate of $45-$55, depending on demonstrated level of experience and expertise.  Candidates will be selected based on availability and listed qualifications.

This is an independent contractor position. The contracted party will be responsible for all insurance or other business/employment related expenses, including taxes, benefits, licenses, and other expenses. Alternatively, this role may be filled by an individual employed at a PALNI or PALCI member institution, through an agreement with that institution that contracts to supply services on a time-release basis. 

To Apply 

Please send your resume and cover letter to consortial-ir@palci.org. Contact information for three professional references will be required from all applicants invited to interview.

The position is open until filled, with first consideration given to applications received by November 5th. 

Equal Opportunity Employer/Diversity and Culture

The most productive and satisfying work environment is one in which work is accomplished in a spirit of mutual trust and respect. That trust and respect should be shown by the manner of interaction between our employees, contractors, participants (those participating in PALNI activities), and people with whom we collaborate. We value positive communication and conversations. We expect people to have different opinions – we all come from different backgrounds and have had different experiences. Those differences allow us to see things from different angles so that our organization can grow and thrive in a constantly changing culture. We do not and will not treat someone differently on the basis of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, gender identity, age, national origin (ancestry), disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or military status, in any of our activities or operations. See our Respect in the Workplace policy.

From the Atla Digital Library:

We are pleased to welcome the PALNI Last Copies project as the newest addition to the Atla Digital Library! The project, officially known as Collaboratively Preserving Rare Scholarship in Religiously Affiliated Libraries: PALNI Last Copies, is an open access digital library collection of over 400 unique-in-Indiana monographs, focusing on religion and theology subject matter. The 22 collections that make up the Last Copies project include titles from the 1810s to the 1920s in twelve languages.   Common subjects are hymns, doctrinal theology, and the Bible. 

Through this project, the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) partnered with Internet Archive to provide digital access to rare monographs from 22 PALNI partner institutions.  This project was made possible by a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant that was awarded through the Indiana State Library.

PALNI and Atla are pleased to collaborate to include this important collection in the Atla Digital Library in order to increase discoverability of these items and to place them in context with other religion and theology content.

Explore highlights from these collections below.

An account of the Vedas : with numerous extracts from the Rig-Veda

Digital Library URL: https://dl.atla.com/concern/works/xd07h750z

Description: An account of the Vedas : with numerous extracts from the Rig-Veda. The Atharva-veda described : with a classified selection of hymns, explanatory notes and review. The Brahmanas of the Vedas. Contributed by Manchester University

You can see the full Manchester University Last Copy Collection collection in the Atla Digital Library here:  https://dl.atla.com/collections/manchester-university-last-copy-collection 

Mildmay : or, the story of the first deaconess institution

Digital Library URL: https://dl.atla.com/concern/works/1n79hj49n 

Description: Mildmay : or, the story of the first deaconess institution by Harriette F. Cooke, M.A. Contributed by DePauw University.

You can see the full DePauw University Last Copy Collection collection in the Atla Digital Library here:  https://dl.atla.com/collections/depauw-university-last-copy-collection 

La Santa Biblia : Antiguo y Nuevo Testamento

Digital Library URL: https://dl.atla.com/concern/works/5425kq65f

Description: The Holy Bible: Old and New Testaments. Contributed by Taylor University

You can see the full Taylor University Last Copy Collection collection in the Atla Digital Library here:  https://dl.atla.com/collections/taylor-university-last-copy-collection 

Vierstimmige Melodien zu dem “Gesangbuch zum gottesdienstlichen und häuslichen Gebrauche in evangelischen Mennoniten-Gemeinden”

Digital Library URL:   ​​https://dl.atla.com/concern/works/tq57p467d 

Description: Four-part melodies for the “hymn book for worship and domestic use in evangelical Mennonite communities.” Contributed by Mennonite Historical Library.

You can see the full Mennonite Historical Library Last Copy Collection collection in the Atla Digital Library here:  https://dl.atla.com/collections/mennonite-historical-library-last-copy-collection

Wonderful leadings

DL URL: https://dl.atla.com/concern/works/n296xc285 

Description: Wonderful Leadings by Mary A. Glaser. Contributed by Huntington University.

You can see the full Huntington University Last Copy Collection in the Atla Digital Library here: https://dl.atla.com/collections/huntington-university-last-copy-collection

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has awarded $248,050 to the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana (PALNI) in partnership with The Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration & Innovation (PALCI) for Hyku for Consortia: Removing Barriers to Adoption as part of the National Leadership Grants for Libraries Program. IMLS received 172 applications requesting more than $47 million in funding and selected 39 applicants to receive awards during this grant cycle. With this award, the partners will increase the flexibility, accessibility, and usability of Hyku, the multi-tenant repository platform system.  

Repositories are a critical piece of library infrastructure, enabling access to many types of digital materials created by an institution’s students, faculty, staff, and researchers. Libraries, cultural heritage institutions, and other organizations also use repositories to provide access to digitized special collections.

 

In the face of continued budgetary pressures, libraries are seeking cost-saving approaches to their work. Those unable to deploy Institutional Repository (IR) services on their own due to costs or other constraints are increasingly looking to consortia to serve this role. This project specifically seeks to develop Hyku to support the repository needs of library groups by increasing affordability and flexibility. 

PALNI Executive Director Kirsten Leonard notes, “This grant will provide the foundational support for PALNI and PALCI to remove remaining barriers to more widespread deployment of the repository software. Together with input from our new consortia project participants from VIVA and LOUIS, we will create business modeling and a toolkit to support other consortia to provide this service for their members, potentially reaching thousands of libraries.” 

This project will extend work completed under the previous PALNI/PALCI IMLS grant, which resulted in the establishment of Hyku Commons, a production-level, low-cost, multi-tenant repository service shared by the supported institutions of PALNI and PALCI.  This new round of funding will further improve Hyku by directly addressing needs articulated by stakeholders in a scalable, multi-tenant environment.

The project will kick off with a user study and gap assessment to further define existing barriers and software requirements needed to support the adoption of the service. PALNI and PALCI will employ Notch8, an open-source software development firm and long-time contributor to the Hyku project, to deliver enhancements and changes prioritized in the early phases. Rob Kaufman, Notch8’s Founding Partner and current Product Owner for Hyku, sees this as an extraordinary opportunity to increase visibility and adoption of Hyku. “Hyku for Consortia has been one of the key projects in the community, expanding the functionality of Hyku in ways that really matter to the users. Notch8 is excited to continue this partnership into this game-changing new phase.”  

The project will also expand its partnership to include consortial partners LOUIS and VIVA, who will pilot the service and offer feedback critical to ensuring widespread adoption. A Consortial Institutional Repository Toolkit will provide guidelines, documentation, and other materials to support the development of similar collaborative repository services in other consortia.

Jill Morris, Executive Director of PALCI, is excited at the opportunity to drive strategic innovation of community-owned infrastructure. “This project builds on the strengths of consortia and stretches our relationships to leverage our respective strengths. We are thrilled to continue our partnership with PALNI to explore new solutions, business models, and collaborative approaches to building and sustaining our library infrastructure.

Anne Osterman, Director of VIVA, said, “We are delighted to be piloting and supporting this important project as it develops scalable options for groups of libraries.The creation of a truly community-led, open, sustainable, and multi-tenant repository service meets needs long articulated by academic libraries and the consortia that serve them.” 

Teri Oaks Gallaway, Executive Director of LOUIS, expressed her interest in the grant, “One of our strategic goals as a consortium is to explore opportunities with other libraries, consortia, and vendors for the development of an open-source library services platform. This project is a perfect example of how we can pool our collective knowledge and resources to improve upon and expand the reach of a needed tool like Hyku. We are excited to be a part of this opportunity with our partners and colleagues and look forward to supporting the development of this project.”

“As pillars of our communities, libraries and museums bring people together by providing important programs, services, and collections. These institutions are trusted spaces where people can learn, explore and grow,” said IMLS Director Crosby Kemper. “IMLS is proud to support their initiatives through our grants as they educate and enhance their communities.”

Updates for the project will be made available at https://www.hykuforconsortia.org/.

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About the Institute of Museum and Library Services:

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s libraries and museums. We advance, support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Our vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform the lives of individuals and communities. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

About the Private Academic Library Network of Indiana, Inc. (PALNI): 

PALNI is a non-profit organization supporting collaboration for library and information services to the libraries of its twenty-three supported institutions. Over time, the library deans and directors who sit on the PALNI board have adjusted the organization’s strategic direction as the internet and information services landscape has changed. PALNI has expanded beyond providing a resource management system to sharing expertise in many areas, including strategic planning, reference, information fluency, outreach, data management, and configuration, and has identified greater collaboration in acquisitions as a key goal. www.palni.edu

About The Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration & Innovation (PALCI):

The PALCI organization was originally founded as the ‘Pennsylvania Academic Library Consortium, Inc.,” and was formed in 1996 as a grassroots federation of 35 academic libraries in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Today, PALCI is known as Partnership for Academic Library Collaboration & Innovation, with membership consisting of 74 academic and research libraries, in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, and New York. PALCI’s mission is to enable cost-effective and sustainable access to information resources and services for academic libraries in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. PALCI Members serve over 800,000 students, faculty, and staff at member institutions, through a variety of programs, including the highly-regarded EZBorrow resource sharing service. PALCI also serves as the home for the Affordable Learning PA program, creating a community of practice for open textbooks and related educational resources. http://palci.org

About LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network

LOUIS is a consortium of public and private college and university libraries in the state of Louisiana. This partnership was formed in 1992 by the library deans and directors at these institutions, in order to create a cost-effective collaboration among the institutions for the procurement of library technology and resources. We are currently forty-seven members strong.

About VIVA

VIVA is the academic library consortium serving 71 nonprofit higher education institutions in Virginia, including 39 state assisted colleges and universities, 31 independent private, nonprofit institutions, and The Library of Virginia. VIVA’s mission is to provide, in an equitable, cooperative, and cost‐effective manner, enhanced access to library and information resources for Virginia’s academic libraries serving the nonprofit higher education community. 

About Notch8:

Founded in San Diego, CA in 2007 by Rob Kaufman, Notch8 is a Ruby on Rails-based web consultancy with additional expertise in React and React Native mobile applications. Today we are a team of 18 developers and technical experts located across three time zones. Since 2016, we have been active with digital repository solutions, primarily through our involvement with the Samvera Community. We are Samvera Partners and both in and out of the Samvera framework, we have contributed to more than 20 projects in the digital repository space. 

PALNI’s Affordable Learning Program, PALSave, has named eight faculty members from five PALNI schools recipients of the “PALSave Open Educator Award” for the 2020-2021 academic year.  The Open Educator Award recognizes innovation and excellence in support of textbook affordability and student success. 

Name	Institution	Award Category
Laura Herder	Butler University	Open Education Champion
James McGrath	Butler University	Open Textbook Author
Brian Weidner	Butler University	Open Textbook Author
Humberto Barreto	DePauw University	Open Textbook Author
John Ross Buschert	Goshen College	Open Education Champion
Alejandra Rodriguez-Villar	Hanover College	Open Pedagogy Innovator
Valerie Young	Hanover College	Open Education Champion
Matthew DeLong	Marian University	Open Education Champion

Three categories of awards were given: Open Education Champion, Open Textbook Publisher, and Open Pedagogy Innovator. The Open Education Champion award was bestowed to faculty who adopted and integrated open educational resources (OERs) into their courses and advocated for their use with colleagues. The Open Textbook Author was awarded to those who created their own open textbook and/or course materials. The Open Pedagogy Innovator award was given to a professor who, already using open textbooks for course materials, empowered and facilitated the creation of a student-created open textbook as a classroom assignment.

We thank them for their participation and innovative work in open education with PALSave!

To find out more information for PALSave please see: https://palsave.palni.org/

PALNI’s PALSave Textbook Creation Grants Program has awarded funding to faculty members from PALNI supported institutions to create six open textbooks. These open textbooks will be freely available on the web, reducing costs to students enrolled in courses in the future. Financed with support from Lilly Endowment Inc., each author will receive up to a maximum of $5,000 with a cap of $6,500 per proposal.

After starting a successful pilot with Butler University Professor James McGrath, the PALNI Open Educational Resource (OER) Publishing Task Force put out a call for proposals in October 2020. They received twenty proposals from institutions varying in size and scope. A review committee recommended this diverse set of projects based on proposal quality, need, and adoption potential within PALNI schools and beyond. 

PALNI will coordinate peer review, copyediting, layout, and hosting services to assist the faculty in their textbook creation.  Each project will also be supported by a local project manager to monitor progress and answer questions.  The open textbooks will be published on the PALNI Press supported Pressbooks platform alongside other faculty-contributed works like Brass Techniques and Pedagogy, by Butler University faculty member Brian Weidner, and will ultimately be submitted to the Open Textbook Library and OER repositories.

The textbooks will be tentatively available by Fall 2023.

Congratulations to the awardees: 

Author(s)	Institution	Department	Textbook Working Title
Nathan Willowby	Anderson University	School of Theology and Christian Ministry	Morality for Professionals: Developing a Moral Conscience through Christian Virtue Ethics
Scott Kaschner & Amber Russell	Butler University	Mathematics, Statistics, and Actuarial Science	Linear Transformations on Vector Spaces
James McGrath	Butler University	Philosophy, Religion, and Classics	The Bible and Music
Gabriel Vanover	Hanover College	Theatre	Center Stage
Paul Bible & Lucas Moser	Marian University	Mathematics	An Open Guide to Data Structures and Algorithms
Yuriko Ikeda & Julia Baumgardt	Marian University	Languages and Cultures	Comunidades

About PALSave: PALNI Affordable Learning

Supported by a Lilly Endowment Inc. grant, PALSave supports student success and retention by fostering the use of Open Educational Resources (OER). It provides collaborative resources and a framework for OER awareness, education, and engagement. In addition, it funds and supports faculty adoptions of affordable learning materials to enhance the teaching and learning missions of private higher education in Indiana. PALNI campuses are affiliate members of the Open Education Network through this initiative. The PALSave Admin Team team started in 2018, after PALNI’s Affordable Education Initiatives Task Force completed an environmental scan of peer programs, resulting in a preliminary project plan identifying components for future work.   

About the PALNI Press

The PALNI Press openly publishes the scholarly and creative content of PALNI-supported institutions. This service provides the capacity to create and host open access publications such as journals, textbooks, monographs, and digital exhibits, without the costs associated with program design or platform maintenance and hosting. In May 2018, the Library Publishing Task Force was formed to explore how to create a more robust publishing service by addressing structure, needs, and plans for the future. Now, in 2021, the Publishing Services Admin Team administers the PALNI Press by creating documentation and developing services.  The Team is also engaged in the larger library publishing community as part of the Library Publishing Coalition.

Indianapolis Business Journal recently covered PALNI’s PALSave program in their article, “Local academic library organization getting creative to save students big bucks.”

Journalist Anthony Schoettle describes the program goals and initial successes showcasing the true cost-saving potential for students.

“To combat the financial pressures on college students and their families, PALNI has created its affordable learning program—PALSave—with the goal of saving students more than $1 million in five years. Due to the early growth of their initiatives, PALNI officials are confident they’ll beat that goal, saving students $1.25 million by mid-2024.”

Note, the article can only be viewed in full using an IBJ subscription. Please contact your local library to see if they have IBJ access or consider purchasing a subscription to keep up with local/regional/state news.

Butler University faculty James McGrath is the founding editor of AcademFic, a new open access periodical dedicated to publishing fiction by academics outside areas that include writing in their academic and professional activity. Using the PALNI’s Open Journal Systems (OJS) and team support, and with assistance from Butler University Libraries, McGrath was able to launch the journal on an open-access platform eliminating the financial barrier to creating and accessing new issues and articles.

McGrath shares the inspiration behind AcademFic saying, “When I first had the idea to create a place that would publish works by academics outside of the field of creative writing […] I soon discovered that it was of great interest to many. There is a burgeoning area of publishing novels that seek to explore subjects like biblical studies through the writing of historical fiction, including quite a few penned by academics in the field. In addition to everything else, writing fiction can be a way to convey historical information to a wider audience. It can also be a way to test our [professional academics’] historical reconstructions and hypotheses.”

The first volume exemplifies McGrath’s vision and includes stories ranging widely in length, genre, and professional fields. The journal was made possible through the PALNI Press, which hosts a suite of publishing platforms.  All faculty, staff, and students affiliated with a PALNI supported institution may propose an open access publication for the PALNI Press that supports the teaching and learning objectives of their institution. See press.palni.org for more information.

To view AcademFic,  please visit: https://press.palni.org/ojs/index.php/academfic/index

About Butler University: www.butler.edu

Located in the heart of the Indianapolis Butler-Tarkington neighborhood, Butler University seeks to provide the highest quality of liberal and professional education and to integrate the liberal arts with professional education, by creating and fostering a stimulating intellectual community built upon interactive dialogue and inquiry among students, faculty, and staff. In 1855  attorney and abolitionist Ovid Butler founded the school on the principle that everyone deserves an excellent education, regardless of race or gender—a bold idea in pre-Civil-War America. Today, we’ve built on Butler’s vision to create a community of students and faculty that learn by doing—a community that values hard work as an essential building block for success, whether in the classroom, on the field, or out in the world. Butler University is the only Midwest Regional University to earn the U.S. News designation as Most Innovative School, according to the magazine’s 2018 rankings. For the eighth consecutive year, Butler ranks No. 2 overall among 171 Midwest Regional Universities. Butler is also recognized among the best in the nation for four co-curricular programs that enhance the educational experience for students. For more information, visit www.butler.edu.