Student Assistant - Metadata and Programming Assistant

Supervisor Contact: Erik Radio (erik.radio@colorado.edu), Aaron Sweeney (aaron.sweeney@colorado.edu)

Application: Please send a resume and cover letter to erik.radio@colorado.edu and aaron.sweeney@colorado.edu to apply.  Applications received by January 24, 2025 will receive full consideration.

Number of Positions Available: 1

Location: Remote. Work space is available in the Library if needed.

Hours/Shifts Available: Flexible schedule, estimated 10 hours per week.

Work-study Grant Required: No

Job’s Duration: January through December 31, 2025 or until completion of project if earlier.

Pay rate: $18/hr

Job Description

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) has more than 3,700 tsunami marigram (tide gauge) records in both image and paper format, capturing worldwide observations of more than 390 tsunami events from 1854 to 1994. The majority of these tsunami marigram records were scanned to high-resolution digital tiff images during the NOAA Climate Data Modernization Program (CDMP) which ran from 2000 to 2011.  Additional, uncatalogued physical records exist on microfilm rolls and paper at the David Skaggs Research Center (DSRC) in Boulder, CO.  For many tsunami events prior to 1994, data resides only on the marigram records, making them of great historical significance.  Six of the 13 uncatalogued microfilm rolls have been scanned by NCEI to produce 3,548 TIFF images (about 5 GB). 

We are looking for a student to extract data from these images, catalog the TIFF images, and identify any duplicates by comparing to the existing catalog of marigrams.  In addition, given the size of the collection, it will  be necessary to develop an automated approach to harvest metadata (text) from the images to aid in cataloging.

Required Qualifications or Skills:

  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
  • Ability to write computer programs for various purposes, particularly using data scraping libraries (experience with Python is preferred).
  • Organizational skills with attention to detail.
  • Ability to manage time and prioritize tasks.