View from across the Pond: Opportunities, Gaps, and Challenges in Digital Curation Lifelong Learning Helen R. Tibbo School of Information & Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill DigCurV International Conference Framing the Digital Curation Curriculum May 6,

Thank you! *The Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for their generous support of numerous Digital Curation Education initiatives in the US and especially for support of the “DigCCurr II: Extending an International Digital Curation Curriculum to Doctoral Students and Practitioners” (#RE ). *The DigCurV team for all their hard work on this project and the solid framework they have developed. *The European Commission that funded DigCurV through their Leonardo da Vinci programme. 2

Sample Programs 3

Digital Preservation Management Workshops: Some Observations Slides from Nancy Y. McGovern, Closing the Digital Curation Gap Symposium 4

DPM Workshops  First NEH grant awarded in 2002 (+ 2004, 2007, 2012)  First workshop presented in August 2003  More than 40 workshops in various formats  attendees, 350+ orgs (from 35+ countries, 6 continents)  Developed at Cornell, hosted by ICPSR, now at MIT  Workshop website: dpworkshop.org  Faculty evolves over time  Curriculum evolves: core concepts and framework  New grant: evaluate outcomes, recommend next steps 5

(what?) (how?) (how much?) DPM Three-Legged Stool holistic development of sustainable programs

Five Stages of Program Development 1.Acknowledge: aware of digital preservation as a local concern 2.Act: initiate digital preservation projects 3.Consolidate: segue from project to program 4.Institutionalize: rationalize program, aware of community 5.Externalize: embrace inter-institutional collaboration, dependency 7

Curriculum  Desired outcomes  Common outcomes across cohorts  Encourage managers to build sustainable programs  Audience  Built for managers of digital content  Stress audience for each workshop  Extensions  Advanced topics  Models and examples  Contributions to other programs  US: DigCCurr, e-science Institute, DPOE, & SAA’s DAS  UK: DPTP, AIDA, CARDIO 8

 This is Nancy McGovern’s program  Hard to see this continuing without Nancy… 9 Is This Sustainable?

LOC Digital Preservation Outreach & Education Program (DPOE) 10

Train the Trainer Mission The LIBRARY of CONGRESS To foster national outreach and education about digital preservation by building a collaborative network of instructors and partners to provide training to individuals and organizations seeking to preserve their digital content. Train the Trainer Mission 11 Slides from George Coulbourne, Office of Strategic Initiatives, Library of Congress

Distribute Training through a National Network 12

…for an Industry Ready Curriculum Identify - what digital content do you have? Select - what portion of that content will be preserved? Store - what issues are there for long term storage? Protect - what steps are needed to protect your digital content? Manage - what provisions are needed for long-term management? Provide - what considerations are there for long-term access? The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 13

Targeted at Each Layer of the Workforce The LIBRARY of CONGRESS 14

Planned Locally and Promoted Nationally 15

 Institutional home  Instructors not paid  So far, many instructors have been eager to help out! 16 Is This Sustainable?

DigCCurr I & II School of Information and Library Science University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 17

DigCCurr I say: seeker  Preserving Access to Our Digital Future: Building an International Digital Curation Curriculum.  IMLS Grant # RE  Collaboration of School of Information & Library Science (SILS), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) & U.S. National Archives & Records Administration (NARA)  Ran July 1, 2006 – December 31,

DigCCurr I Components Curriculum: To prepare students for digital curation with wide variety of organizations, contexts & types of resources:  Graduate-level (master’s) curricular framework  Course modules  Course development  Experiential components  International guest speakers Two International Symposia:  DigCCurr2007: April 18-20, 2007 in Chapel Hill  DigCCurr2009: Practice, Promise and Prospects: April 1-3, 2009 in Chapel Hill - Carolina Digital Curation Fellowship program (master’s students) 19

DigCCurr Matrix of Digital Curation Knowledge & Competencies  Tool for thinking about, planning for, identifying & organizing material to cover in curriculum.  Each unit of curriculum content can address one or more dimensions.  Helping us to address a fundamental issue: All digital curation students should all get some aspects of the curriculum, but other aspects will only be necessary for students planning to work in particular types of places or jobs (i.e. balancing core vs. specialized knowledge). 20

Six Matrix Dimensions  Mandates, values & principles.  Professional, disciplinary or institutional/organizational context.  Transition point in information continuum/lifecycle.  Type of resource.  Function or skill.  Prerequisite knowledge. 21

DigCCurr II  “Extending an International Digital Curation Curriculum to Doctoral Students and Practitioners.”  This project is funded through IMLS Laura Bush funds.  A collaboration of the School of Information and Library Science (SILS) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) and the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and Univ. of Toronto through Seamus Ross.  Project to run August 1, 2008 – July 31,

DigCCurr II Key Activities  PhD Fellowships - 6  Digital Curation Exchange (DCE)   Summer Institutes  Week-long summer workshop for practitioners.  Follow-up session held approximately six months later.  Fifth to be held May 12-17, 2013  Public Symposia - Third held January 9, 2013  CurateGear  Ph.D. Seminar Series,  AERI Workshop, July 2012  “Curate Thyself,” March 17,

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SILS Digital Curation Programs  Master’s of Science in Library or Information Science.  Concentration in Archives and Records Management.  Certificate in Digital Curation.  Dual MSIS/MSLS – MPA program with UNC School of Government.  10+ Ph.D. students in digital curation presently.  DigCCurr Professional Institute and other life-long professional education & support. 25

 Drs. Helen Tibbo & Christopher Lee are the driving forces behind the DigCCurr Professional Institute  We are not being paid for conducting the Institute…  How long will be do it???  DigCCurr hopefully will live on in the Matrix and those it has educated  The SILS Certificate (30 credit degree) in Data Curation is expensive… 26 Is This Sustainable?

SAA’s Digital Archives Specialist (DAS) Curriculum & Certificate 27

DAS  Was conceptualized in 2011 while I was SAA President  Is developed and refreshed by experts in the field of digital archives  Is structured in tiers of study  Is offered face-to-face around the country or via webinars 28

DAS Designed to:  Provide education and training to ensure that archivists adopt appropriate practices for appraising, capturing, preserving, and providing access to electronic records.  Provide archivists with the information and tools they need to manage the demands of born-digital records. 29

Four Tiers of Study  Foundational Courses focus on the essential skills that archivists need to manage digital archives. They focus primarily, but not exclusively, on the needs of practitioners—archivists who are or will be working directly with electronic records. These courses present information that an archivist might implement in the next year.  Tactical and Strategic Courses focus on the skills that archivists need to make significant changes in their organizations so that they can develop a digital archives and work seriously on managing electronic records. They focus primarily, but not exclusively, on the needs of managers—those archivists who manage other professionals and who oversee programmatic operations. These courses present information that an archivist might implement in the next five years. 30

Four tiers of study  Tools and Services Courses focus on specific tools and services that archivists need to use for their work with digital archives. They are practical courses focused on specific software products and other tools and they focus primarily, but not exclusively, on the needs of practitioner archivists. These courses present information that an archivist could implement immediately.  Transformational Courses focus on the skills that archivists need to change their working lives dramatically and transform their institutions into full-fledged digital archives. They focus primarily, but not exclusively, on the needs of administrators—those archivists with oversight over the entire archival enterprise of an institution. These courses present information that an archivist might implement over the course of the next ten years. 31

Key audiences  The Archivist Practitioner is a hands-on, front-line archivist who manages or will manage electronic records personally.  The Archivist Manager is an archivist who has oversight over the work of other professional archivists and who may or may not manage electronic records directly.  The Archivist Administrator is an archivist who works in a large archives, who oversees archivist managers, who is responsible for organizational planning, and who does not manage electronic records directly but must ensure the organization’s capacity to do so. 32

7 digital competencies  #1: Understand the nature of records in electronic form, including the functions of various storage media, the nature of system dependence, and the effect on integrity of records over time.  #2: Communicate and define requirements, roles, and responsibilities related to digital archives to a variety of partners and audiences.  #3: Formulate strategies and tactics for appraising, describing, managing, organizing, and preserving digital archives. 33

7 digital competencies  #4: Integrate technologies, tools, software, and media within existing functions for appraising, capturing, preserving, and providing access to digital collections.  #5: Plan for the integration of new tools or successive generations of emerging technologies, software, and media.  #6: Curate, store, and retrieve original masters and access copies of digital archives.  #7: Provide dependable organization and service to designated communities across networks. 34

 Run by a professional society, not individuals  Not dependent on grant funding  SAA has made this a revenue stream upon which they depend  Wide range and supply of instructors (who do get paid, albeit a small amount)  A community effort – archivists training other archivists  DAS appears to have the greatest chance of sustainability of the continuing education programs presented here 35 Is This Sustainable?

Challenges for Professional Education in Digital Curation 36

 How long/extensive should training be?  Where should training be held?  How should training be supported/funded?  How much should training cost?  “Everything should be 5 cents!”  What types of credentialing are appropriate?  Who should do the instruction?  Should instruction be broad or specific?  What should be the content?  What prerequisite knowledge is necessary? Open Questions for Professional Education in Digital Curation 37

 Patchwork quilt of course offerings  Format of offerings  Face-to-face  Webinar  Length of offerings  1-2 hours  ½ day  1 day  2-3 days  1 week  1 week +  Multi –workshops over time  5 course certificates  10 course certificate Current Professional Education Landscape in Digital Curation 38

 College/university – participants come to teachers  Have workshop will travel  One’s computer (webinar)  A series in one place  A series in multiple places Venues for Professional Education in Digital Curation 39

 Grant-funded projects  Income stream for professional organizations  Continuing education programs in universities  Commercial firms  Conducting and charging for programs  PASIG – Oracle Sources for Professional Education in Digital Curation 40

 Integrated programs that address technical and professional knowledge and skills across the digital asset lifecycle.  Capacity to specialize in various functions, environments, and material types.  Programs that address specific digital environments & resource types. Gaps to Fill 41

Pedagogical Issues 42

What to Teach?  Curriculum just being developed and following a blend of archival, information, business, and ethical principles along with cutting edge technical and process developments.  Core content unclear; range of content is unclear.  What is core vs. extended/specialized content?  Uncertainty at all educational levels. 43

How to Teach?  Face-to-face vs. remote.  Lecture/discussion vs. hands-on, what’s the right mixture?  What is the role of field experiences/internships/residency programs?  How do we sustain internships when grant money runs out? 44

Audience Level *At what audience(s) should digital curation education be aimed? *How do we articulate the range of audiences? *What are the implications for pre-requisite knowledge? *What can we expect various audiences to know in advance? *What can we teach based on what an audience knows? *How do we best deal with mixed-level audiences? 45

Audience Focus  How do teaching methods and content change based on the focus of the audience?  Do we provide different content/methods for scientists who need to manage data vs. humanists vs. the general public?  How do we best teach data curation and information management to content specialists (individual curators) vs. professional curators?  How do we best segment the marketplace? 46

Programmatic Duration  How long?  How do pedagogical goals relate to length of instruction?  What can we teach in 2 hours? 2 days? 2 weeks? 2 months? 2 years?  How do you get a core of information management and curation to specialized audiences who have a limited attention span for learning about digital curation? 47

Programmatic Sustainability Who is going to pay for all this? What is the business model for continuing education? Who is going to take this on? How is the academy going to be rewarded for working in this arena beyond formal graduate and undergraduate education? How can we reach such a large audience (everyone needs to know about digital curation!)? Can I-Schools provide the digital curation teaching capacity that the government, military, corporate, scientific, academic, and public sectors will require? 48

Where Are We?  Everything above is exploratory and experimental – even the formal looking concentrations and certificates.  There is only an emerging canon for the field of digital curation.  Research and development is rapid but not easily translated into workflows of existing professionals.  We are working this out. 49

Educational Needs  Digital curation educators need to work together, across national boundaries and across levels, scope, and instructional purpose.  We need to share materials and discuss approaches and emerging good practice.  We need to ramp-up the educational workforce.  We need to ramp-up educational efforts. 50

Next Steps  Analogous to needs in digital curation as a whole, we need to:  Move from hand-crafted approaches to wide-spread and easily replicable solutions.  Produce more educators who can train the trainer?  Be able to certify learning. 51

52 THANK YOU Questions? Please visit the Digital Curation Exchange at digitalcurationexchange.org Feedback…

ASIST 2008, Columbus, OH53 DigCCurr Professional Institute: Curation Practices for the Digital Object Lifecycle May 12-17, 2013 & January 6-7, 2014 Chapel Hill, NC, USA 53