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.
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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.
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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
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
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
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
CONTENTS
Chapter 1 New Imperatives in Digital Curation and Its Workforce
1.1 The Digital Information Revolution
1.2 Dynamism in Use and Technology
1.3 Multiplicity and Diversity of Digital Information Handlers
1.6 The Work and Workforce of Digital Curation: A Continuum
1.7 Scope of Topic and Time Frame
Chapter 2 The Current State of Digital Curation
2.1 Evolution and Continuing Development of the Field of Digital Curation
2.2 Shared Norms and Standards
2.6 Impediments to the Advancement of the Field of Digital Curation
2.7 Measuring the Benefits of Digital Curation
2.8 Measuring the Costs of Digital Curation
2.9 Conclusions and Recommendations
Chapter 3 Current and Future Demand for the Digital Curation Workforce
3.1 Difficulties in Estimating Current Demand
3.2 Estimating Current Demand: Job Openings
3.3 Estimating Current Demand: Placements
3.4 Estimating Future Demand: Government Statistics
3.5 Automation and Future Demand
3.6 Conclusions and Recommendations
Chapter 4 Preparing and Sustaining a Workforce for Digital Curation
4.1 Envisioning the Education of Professional Digital Curators
4.2 Envisioning Education at the Other End of the Continuum
4.3 Current Educational Opportunities for Students of Digital Curation