Abstract
From 2008-2010, as part of the grant: ‘DigCCurr I: Preserving Access to Our Digital Future: Building an International Digital Curation Curriculum’ (DigCCurr I) funded through the Institute of Museum and Library Services, a number of fellows at the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) were comprehensively trained by library and archive professionals in digital curation theory and practice. This paper examines the curriculum skill areas matrix of the DigCCurr I program from the perspective of two former fellows, now employed in professional positions that utilize digital curation principles. Each fellow offers an analysis of digital curation functions and subfunctions as they relate to her current position, deriving suggestions for future iterations of the DigCCurr program and other graduate programs meant to prepare digital curators. While DigCCurr has been reported by its creators, a group of seasoned digital curation professionals and educators from around the world, this paper provides a fresh perspective from graduates of the program who are applying their newly learned digital curation skills and knowledge in the workforce.
Highlights
In recent years, Library and Information Science (LIS) schools in the United States have been catching up in the development of curricular concentrations, tracks and certificates that feature light to intensive training in digital curation and digital preservation
While by no means the only program formulating competencies for digital curators DigCCurr I fellows are some of the few to date who have been educated under such an intensive curricular framework.With one fellow involved in academic library data services and the other in a cultural heritage organization, this paper shows how a digital curation framework can translate to positions with different responsibilities and in different contexts
The Odum Institute’s Data Archive is one of the oldest in the country and holds significant collections of polling data, social science research data, census data, North Carolina vital statistics, and other collections, which are preserved and made available on a wide scale. It is a prestigious and well-respected archive, involved in a number of international projects and collaborations, the Odum Archive is a small organization where graduate assistants are encouraged to initiate new projects and participate in activities that align with their interests. During her time at the Odum Institute, Fellow A worked on a metadata cleaning and verification project, gained experience with statistical packages and research data management principles used in data-intensive research, and participated in a risk assessment of the archive using the Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment tool from the Digital Curation Centre and DigitalPreservationEurope
Summary
Library and Information Science (LIS) schools in the United States have been catching up in the development of curricular concentrations, tracks and certificates that feature light to intensive training in digital curation and digital preservation. This paper aims to do just that, related to the project: ‘DigCCurr I: Preserving Access to Our Digital Future: Building an International Digital Curation Curriculum’ (DigCCurr I) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNCCH).. This paper aims to do just that, related to the project: ‘DigCCurr I: Preserving Access to Our Digital Future: Building an International Digital Curation Curriculum’ (DigCCurr I) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNCCH).2 This program jump-started a Digital Curation Curriculum (DigCCurr) that was initially tested on five fellows, including the two authors.
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