Gypsy Lore Society Victor Weybright Archives of Gypsy Studies

Michigan State University Libraries intends to become an important center for the study of Gypsy/Romani groups. The Gypsy Lore Society Victor Weybright Archives of Gypsy Studies will be an important addition to the establishment of the Gypsy/Romani Research Collection within the MSU Libraries’ Special Collections.

The Archives is a collection of books, articles, manuscripts, and audio-visual materials useful to scholars in the field of Gypsy Studies. Carmen Hendershott, volunteer archivist from 1979 to 2012, oversaw the expansion of the Archives and detailed cataloging of the collection. As it grew, finding a home for the Archives and making it available to researchers became a perennial issue.

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Call for applications

Editor, Romani Studies (continuing Journal of the Gypsy Lore Society)

Start date: 1 January 2018

Estimated average time effort: 3-4 hours per week, no financial remuneration

Key Responsibilities:

To receive and with support of the editorial board to process article submissions to the journal, including: corresponding with authors, identifying and approaching external reviewers, receiving and processing external reviews, providing authors with feedback, taking decisions on publication of submissions, monitoring and receiving revisions;

To select, with the advice and consent of the Gypsy Lore Society Board of Directors, the members of the editorial board. It is expected that the members of the editorial board will be members of the Gypsy Lore Society or will join the Society upon their selection;

To work with the journal’s Book Review Editor to commission, receive, edit and publish book reviews;

To plan, together with the editorial board, the content of individual journal issues, by deciding which articles to include, managing the editorial and production schedule, and liaising with the journal’s production manager to ensure prompt delivery of two issues per year, as specified in the contract with the publisher;

To oversee the production of a volume index for each volume (annually);

To ensure that content is properly edited, paying attention to such things as presentation style, verifiability of sources, presentation of references, copyright issues of images, and so on;

To liaise with the publisher on strategic aspects such as marketing and production arrangements;

To play a lead role to ensure that the journal offers a broad platform of original content while maintaining the highest standards of academic rigour;

To report annually to the Gypsy Lore Society Board of Directors on the journal’s management, following an agreed template.

Person Specification:

Essential:

Candidates must have:

A track record of academic work, including work published in peer-refereed journals, in the field of Romani/Gypsy studies;

Proven interest in, and familiarity with cross-discipline discussions;

Excellent working knowledge of English, with the ability to provide editorial feedback on submissions;

Experience in editing high quality academic publications, either in the form of edited collections or journals;

Proven commitment to deadlines and production schedules. 

Desirable:

The candidate should ideally hold a position at a respected academic institution.

The candidate’s institution should ideally be prepared to support the editor.

Candidates are asked to send a letter of application, addressing their qualifications and experience in the areas named above, along with a CV and his/her vision about the work of editor and editorial board to the President of the Gypsy Lore Society, Professor Elena Marushiakova, emp9@st-andrews.ac.uk, and to Sheila Salo, sheila.salo@gmail.com, by 1 June 2017.

These applications will be shared with all members of the Gypsy Lore Society Board of Directors, except those who are candidates themselves, who will of course withdraw from the process. The Board of Directors may adopt a shortlisting procedure if the number of candidates warrants. All disappointed candidates will receive feedback on the decision of their candidature.