National Academies Press: OpenBook

Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation (2015)

Chapter: Front Matter

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2015. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18590.
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PREPARING THE WORKFORCE FOR DIGITAL CURATION

COMMITTEE ON FUTURE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND EDUCATIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR
DIGITAL CURATION

BOARD ON RESEARCH DATA AND INFORMATION

Policy and Global Affairs

NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS

Washington, D.C.

www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2015. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18590.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS   500 Fifth Street, NW     Washington, DC 20001

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This study was supported by: Contract/Grant No. SLON 10000814 from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Grant Number IMLS RE-04-11-0120-11 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Grant Number NFS:OCI-1144157 from the National Science Foundation. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number 13-978-0-309-29694-6
International Standard Book Number 10-0-309-29694-3

Additional copies of this report are available from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2015 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2015. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18590.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES

Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council.

www.national-academies.org

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2015. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18590.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2015. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18590.
×

COMMITTEE ON FUTURE CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND EDUCATIONAL
REQUIREMENTS FOR DIGITAL CURATION

MARGARET HEDSTROM, Chair, University of Michigan

LEE DIRKS, Microsoft Corporation (until August 2012) (deceased)

PETER FOX, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

MICHAEL GOODCHILD, University of California at Santa Barbara (retired)

HEATHER JOSEPH, Association of Research Libraries

RONALD LARSEN, University of Pittsburgh

CAROLE PALMER, University of Washington

STEVEN RUGGLES, University of Minnesota

DAVID SCHINDEL, Smithsonian Institution

STEPHEN WANDNER, The Urban Institute

Staff

SUBHASH KUVELKER, Study Director

PAUL F. UHLIR, Director, Board on Research Data and Information

DANIEL COHEN, Program Officer (on detail from the Library of Congress)

ALVAR MATTEI, Project Assistant

REBECCA HARRIS-PIERCE, Consultant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2015. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18590.
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BOARD ON RESEARCH DATA AND INFORMATION

FRANCINE BERMAN, Co-Chair, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

CLIFFORD LYNCH, Co-Chair, Coalition for Networked Information

LAURA BARTOLO, Kent State University

HENRY BRADY, University of California at Berkeley

MARK BRENDER, Digital Globe Foundation

SAYEED CHOUDHURY, Johns Hopkins University

KEITH CLARKE, University of Southern California at Santa Barbara

KELVIN DROEGEMEIER, University of Oklahoma

CLIFFORD DUKE, Ecological Society of America

STEPHEN FRIEND, Sage Bionetworks

ELLIOT E. MAXWELL, e-Maxwell & Associates

ALEXA T. McCRAY, Harvard Medical School

ALAN TITLE, Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center

Staff

PAUL F. UHLIR, Director, Board on Research Data and Information

SUBHASH KUVELKER, Senior Program Officer

DANIEL COHEN, Program Officer (on detail from the Library of Congress)

ADRIANA COUREMBIS, Financial Associate

CHERYL WILLIAMS LEVEY, Senior Program Associate

ALVAR MATTEI, Program Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2015. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18590.
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PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

In 2010 the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), a core sponsor of the Board on Research Data and Information (BRDI) of the National Research Council (NRC), had meetings with the members and the staff of BRDI which identified a need to examine the workforce issues for managing and enhancing the nation’s digital assets in the coming decade. As a consequence of these discussions, the IMLS agreed to be the major sponsor of an NRC consensus study to address these concerns. The National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation also agreed to sponsor the project.

The study titled “Future Career Opportunities and Educational Requirements for Digital Curation” was undertaken in fall 2011 by a study committee appointed by the president of the National Academy of Sciences. The committee was composed of experts in various fields, including library and information science, labor economics, domain sciences that rely heavily on digital data and information, higher education, and policy making from the government, academic, and private sectors. For the purposes of this study, “digital curation” is defined as “the active and ongoing management and enhancement of digital assets for current and future use.”

The committee held four meetings that included open sessions for information gathering and input from all stakeholders. In conjunction with its second meeting, the committee organized a major national symposium—“Digital Curation in the Era of Big Data” in Washington, DC, on July 19, 2012. The symposium featured 10 invited speakers from the public and private sectors with expertise in digital curation in various fields. The results of that symposium were integrated into the study that led to this report.

This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Academies’ Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.

We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Suzanne Allard, University of Tennessee; Ruth Duerr, National Snow & Ice Data Center; Bryan Heidorn, University of Arizona; Charles Henry, Council on Library and Information Resources; Richard Luce, University of Oklahoma; Gary Marchionini, University of North Carolina; Maryann Martone, University of California at San Diego; Steven Miller, IBM Information Management Marketing; Jinfang Niu, University of South Florida; Charles Phelps, University of Rochester; Tomas Philipson, University of Chicago; and Gregory Withee, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations, nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by Alexa McCray, Harvard University, and Carl Lineberger, University of Colorado. Appointed by the National Academies, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all

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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2015. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18590.
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review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.

The committee wishes to thank the following speakers at the symposium: Alan Blatecky, National Science Foundation; Vicki Ferrini, Columbia University; Joshua Greenberg, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Margarita Gregg, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration; Myron P. Gutmann, National Science Foundation; Susan Hildreth, Institute of Museum and Library Services; Lawrence Hunter, University of Colorado at Denver; Anne Kenney, Cornell University; Elizabeth Liddy, Syracuse University; Andrew Maltz, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; Nancy McGovern, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Steven Miller, IBM; Michael Rappa, North Carolina State University; Michael Stebbins, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy; and David Weinberger, Senior Researcher, Harvard University. The committee also wishes to thank the following speakers at the open sessions of its meetings: Michael Chui, McKinsey Global Institute; Lauren Csorny, Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor; Rachel Frick, Council on Library and Information; Joshua Greenberg, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Gail Greenfield, National Research Council; Nirmala Kannankutty, National Science Foundation; Mimi McClure, National Science Foundation; Dane Skow, National Science Foundation; and Charles Thomas, Institute of Museum and Library Services.

The committee wishes to thank the IMLS, NSF, and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for their sponsorship of this study. The committee also thanks Rebecca Harris-Pierce, who provided support as a consultant, and all members of the staff of the National Research Council who helped to organize the committee meetings and the symposium and to draft this report.

The committee dedicates this report to our colleague and friend Lee Dirks, who passed away in August 2012.

Margaret Hedstrom
Committee Chair

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 2015. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/18590.
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The massive increase in digital information in the last decade has created new requirements for institutional and technological structures and workforce skills. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation focuses on education and training needs to meet the demands for access to and meaningful use of digital information, now and in the future. This study identifies the various practices and spectrum of skill sets that comprise digital curation, looking in particular at human versus automated tasks. Additionally, the report examines the possible career path demands and options for professionals working in digital curation activities, and analyzes the economic benefits and societal importance of digital curation for competitiveness, innovation, and scientific advancement. Preparing the Workforce for Digital Curation considers the evolving roles and models of digital curation functions in research organizations, and their effects on employment opportunities and requirements. The recommendations of this report will help to advance digital curation and meet the demand for a trained workforce.

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