The Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has announced a postdoctoral fellowship program, offered in conjunction with a consortium of academic research institutions, that will foster the development of a new kind of scholarly information professional. The program is designed to educate new scholars about the challenges and opportunities created by new forms of scholarly research and the information resources that support them, both traditional and digital.

The program will offer postdoctoral fellowships to individuals who have earned their PhDs in disciplines in the humanities within the past three years (or who will complete it before starting the program) and who believe that there are opportunities to develop meaningful linkages between disciplinary scholarship, libraries, archives, and evolving digital tools. Ten to fifteen fellowships, of one to two years in length, will be awarded in 2004. The fellowship will pay a salary plus benefits at one of the collaborating research libraries, each of which will serve as a fellowship sponsor.

The fellowship will include two intensive seminars that bring all fellows together for a common experience. These seminars will be designed to challenge participants to think broadly about the changes under way in research methodologies, the creation of new scholarly resources, the demands these changes place on critical academic institutions such as libraries and archives, and the crucial role that scholars pursuing innovative career paths in libraries can play in shaping the future of scholarly resources management and use. The yearlong fellowship at an academic research library will provide hands-on experience relating to the opportunities and challenges facing scholarship at research libraries in a rapidly changing academic landscape.

Fellowship information and applications are available at http://www.clir.org/fellowships/postdoc/postdoc.html. The application deadline is January 31, 2004.

CLIR is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the management of information for research, teaching, and learning. CLIR works to expand access to information, however recorded and preserved, as a public good.