Digital Preservation Pioneers

Digital Preservation Pioneers

The Library's Digital Preservation Program has only existed since 2000. The relatively new field of digital-information management is thus reliant on individuals and organizations that are willing to embark on cutting-edge programs that will lead others to follow their examples. Each month, this section will present a profile of a new digital preservation pioneers and how that individual's or organization's work enriches the work that all libraries and other repositories are doing to collect and preserve our digital heritage.

Stephen Abrams Stephen Abrams talks about the importance of format identification and discusses his work with JHOVE, the Global Digital Format Registry and PDF/A.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences As the motion picture industry converts to all-digital technology, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is confronting digital-preservation challenges to ensure the preservation of digital movies.

Caroline Arms Caroline Arms came to the Library of Congress in 1995 to work on the American Memory project, but the looming challenge of preserving digital content caught her attention.

Fran Berman Computer scientist Fran Berman muses about the intersection of libraries, science and technology.

Howard Besser Although he may have a collection of more than 2,000 T-shirts, Howard Besser is best known as an often-quoted visionary. Learn what he has to say about digital preservation.

Larry Carver Larry Carver talks about creating a home for geospatial data in the library world and his vision for finding information related to any spot on the Earth through online maps.

Patricia Cruse Patricia (Trisha) Cruse's public-information activism has led the California Digital Library to the digital curation forefront.

Eileen Fenton What happens when an electronic journal from a publisher suddenly becomes unavailable? Eileen Fenton and the folks at Portico are working to build an archive of electronic journals as an insurance policy to be used in just such an emergency.

Andrea Goethals From formats to repositories, Andrea Goethals, Digital Preservation and Repository Services Manager at the Harvard University Library, specializes in creating access and utility.

Rebecca Guenther Rebecca Guenther, Senior Networking and Standards Specialist at the Library of Congress,  has almost single-handedly made it easier for the world to find things online.

Myron Gutmann What's the oldest digital media in the world? Social science data, and Myron Gutmann has decades-long experience in the field.

Martin Halbert Martin Halbert, dean of libraries at the University of North Texas, has first-hand knowledge that institutional collaboration is essential for digital preservation.

Jerry Handfield Washington State Archivist Jerry Handfield traces his work on the innovative Washington State Digital Archives back to a history project he did in high school in Norwich, Connecticut.

Cathy Hartman The CyberCemetery of the University of North Texas Libraries is archiving expired federal Web sites and making them permanently accessible to the public.

Margaret Hedstrom Margaret Hedstrom has some concerns about how the current state of digital preservation might bias history in favor of certain cultures. The associate professor at the University of Michigan has decades of preservation expertise to back her up.

Robert Horton Minnesota State Archivist Robert Horton has been creating public access to electronic records for almost two decades and he now helps other state archives and libraries explore access to legislative digital records.

Michele Kimpton Michele Kimpton has played a pivotal role in some of the most significant advances in Internet-related digital preservation. Her contributions have also had an international impact on saved content and the tools used for preservation.

David Kirsch The boom and bust years of the early days of the so-called dot-com era tell a fascinating story. The trouble is, much of that information is not being saved. David Kirsch of the University of Maryland is doing something about it.

The LOCKSS Team: Vicky Reich and David Rosenthal The idea that "lots of copies keep stuff safe" is at the heart of Stanford University's LOCKSS program, an ingenious and economical approach to preserving electronic journals.

Margaret Maes Legal information presents unique digital preservation challenges because it is constantly changing. Margaret Maes, executive director of the Legal Information Preservation Alliance, is helping law librarians address those challenges.

Jerry McDonough Preserving virtual worlds and games involves several elements, including software, media (sounds and images), metadata and sometimes hardware. Jerry McDonough talks about the range of digital preservation tasks and how to capture the user experience.

Nancy McGovern Nancy McGovern has been involved with digital preservation since the mid-80s. She uses her perspective and experience to help digital preservation managers make decisions as technology evolves and to develop sustainable programs that works for their organization.

Steve Morris Web-based maps are increasingly being used by individuals as well as local, state and federal governments. Steve Morris of North Carolina State University heads an NDIIPP project to determine how best to save and preserve this important digital information.

Michael Nelson In Michael L. Nelson's view of digital preservation's future, data will be well behaved but promiscuous. Dead Web sites will be brought back to life, digital data will be born archivable, files will describe themselves, and data will spread freely among the masses for safekeeping.

Ed Papenfuse Maryland has long been at the forefront in providing online access to land and other permanently valuable archival records, thanks in a large part to State Archivist Dr. Edward C. Papenfuse.

Richard Pearce-Moses Archivist Richard Pearce-Moses has the daunting challenge of building a system to curate all the state digital records and data from the state of Arizona. By his example he is leading the way for 21st century archivists and librarians, and their future work with digital content.

David Riecks Photographer David Riecks talks about how easy it is to add metadata to your digital images and why you should care.

Nan Rubin Nan Rubin is proving to her public-television colleagues that archiving and accessing their digital content can be easy and affordable.

Section 108 Co-Chairs Lolly Gasaway and Richard Ruddick Co-chairs of the Section 108 Study Group Laura Gasaway and Richard Rudick talk about the group's recently released report and its future implications for copyright and cultural heritage institutions.

Julie Sweetkind-Singer Julie Sweetkind-Singer says that the growth of geospatial technology in our daily lives is just beginning and it presents unique challenges for librarians and digital preservationists.

John Spencer The recorded music industry faces a staggering digital media storage problem, one that will ultimately result in loss of revenue and assets. John Spencer has some ideas on what needs to be done about it.

Helen Tibbo Helen Tibbo is making sure that practical and thorough digital curation training prepares students for 21st-century digital archival needs.

Mike Wash Mike Wash is an engineer, technologist, inventor and visionary who holds 18 patents, helped create a new data infrastructure for the GPO and is the CIO of NARA. Read about his plans to whip NARA into an efficient 21st century federal institution.