Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital format. The result is the representation of an object, image, sound, document, or signal obtained by generating a series of numbers that describe a discrete set of points or samples. The result is called digital representation or, more specifically, a digital image, for the object, and digital form, for the signal. In modern practice, the digitized data is in the form of binary numbers, which facilitates processing by digital computers and other operations, but digitizing simply means "the conversion of analog source material into a numerical format"; the decimal or any other number system can be used instead.
In library and archival science, digital preservation is a formal process to ensure that digital information of continuing value remains accessible and usable in the long term. It involves planning, resource allocation, and application of preservation methods and technologies, and combines policies, strategies and actions to ensure access to reformatted and "born-digital" content, regardless of the challenges of media failure and technological change. The goal of digital preservation is the accurate rendering of authenticated content over time.
Archival science, or archival studies, is the study and theory of building and curating archives, which are collections of documents, recordings, photographs and various other materials in physical or digital formats.
Margaret L. Hedstrom is an American archivist who is the Robert M. Warner Collegiate Professor of Information at the University of Michigan School of Information. She has contributed to the field of digital preservation, archives, and electronic records management and holds a doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin.
Charles M. Dollar, an internationally recognized expert on the life cycle management of electronic records, particularly electronic records archiving, pioneered research into digital preservation of electronic records.
In conservation, library and archival science, preservation is a set of preventive conservation activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record, book, or object while making as few changes as possible. Preservation activities vary widely and may include monitoring the condition of items, maintaining the temperature and humidity in collection storage areas, writing a plan in case of emergencies, digitizing items, writing relevant metadata, and increasing accessibility. Preservation, in this definition, is practiced in a library or an archive by a conservator, librarian, archivist, or other professional when they perceive a collection or record is in need of maintenance.
The Paul Banks and Carolyn Harris Preservation Award, is awarded by the Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS), a division of the American Library Association. The award was established to honor the memory of Paul N. Banks and Carolyn Harris, two early leaders in library preservation. The award consists of a citation and a $1,500 grant, donated by Preservation Technologies, L.P.
George Peter Lyman was an American professor of information science who taught at the University of California, Berkeley School of Information, and was well known in U.S. academia for his research on online information and his leadership in remaking university library systems for the digital era.
David Sean Ferriero is an American librarian and library administrator, who served as the tenth Archivist of the United States. He previously served as the director of the New York Public Library and as the University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke University. Prior to his Duke position, he worked for 31 years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology library. Ferriero was the first librarian to serve as Archivist of the United States.
Douglas A. Boyd is an oral historian, archivist, folklorist, musician, and author and currently directs the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky. He graduated from Denison University with a B.A. in History and graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with an M.A. and Ph.D. in folklore. He is known for his work regarding oral history and digital technologies including his work designing and managing the OHMS system. Recently served as executive producer of the documentary Kentucky Bourbon Tales: Distilling the Family Spirit, as well as the award-winning documentary Quest for the Perfect Bourbon: Voices of Buffalo Trace Distillery and is active in the Oral History Association, Society for American Archivists, and the American Folklore Society. Formerly, Boyd managed the digital program for the University of Alabama Libraries, directed the Kentucky Oral History Commission, and served as the senior archivist for the folklife and oral history collections at the Kentucky Historical Society. He is co-editor of Oral History and Digital Humanities: Voice, Access, and Engagement with Mary A. Larson. Boyd is also author of Crawfish Bottom: Recovering a Lost Kentucky Community which was published by University Press of Kentucky and was featured on C-Span's Book TV. He also regularly appears on the radio show Saving Stories]. He is also the producer/host of The Wisdom Project Podcast.
The University of British Columbia School of Information is a graduate school at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver offering a Master of Archival Studies (MAS), a Master of Arts in Children's Literature (MACL), a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS), a DUAL Master of Archival Studies/Master of Library and Information Studies (MASLIS) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Library, Archival and Information Studies (Ph.D.). Founded in 1961 as the School of Librarianship, the iSchool is currently located in the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre. The school changed its name in 2020, but was previously known as the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies. UBC iSchool is an internationally ranked, multi-disciplinary school, ranked first in the world for graduate education in library and information management based on 2019 and 2020 QS ranking.
Howard Besser is a scholar of digital preservation, digital libraries, and preservation of film and video. He is Professor of Cinema Studies and the founding director of the NYU Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program ("MIAP"), a graduate program in the Tisch School. Besser also worked as a Senior Scientist at New York University's Digital Library Initiative. He conducted extensive research in image databases, multimedia operation, digital library, and social and cultural influence of the latest Information Technology. Besser is a prolific writer and speaker, and has consulted with many governments, educational institutions, and arts agencies on digital preservation matters. Besser researched libraries' new technology, archives, and museums. Besser has been actively contributing at the international level to build metadata and upgrade the quality of the cultural heritage community. He predominantly, focused on image and multimedia databases; digital library aspects ; cultural and societal impacts of information technology, and developing new teaching methods through technology such as web-based instructions and distance learning. Besser was closely involved in development of the Dublin Core and the Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard (METS), international standards within librarianship.
Elizabeth Yakel is an archivist, researcher, and educator in information science. Yakel is known for work advancing archival practice, the use of primary sources in archives education, studies of data reuse practices, and digital curation. Yakel is the senior associate dean for academic affairs and a professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, where she has been on the faculty since 2000. She is the former coordinator of the Preservation of Information specialization in the Master of Science in Information program and teaches in the Archives and Record Management area. She specializes in digital archives and digital preservation and has developed five such graduate level courses at UM, including "Economics of Sustainable Digital Information" and "Practical Engagement Workshop in Digital Preservation."
Dr. Nancy Y. McGovern is a digital preservation pioneer. She is the 2023 recipient of the Emmet Leahy Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Information and Records Management professions. Dr. McGovern has devoted her career to developing digital records and preservation programs for a series of prominent institutions, translating those experiences into widely-used curriculum and continuing education programs to help organizations and individuals build their capacity to develop sustainable programs to preserve digital content, defining and promulgating standards-based good practice for digital archives and preservation, and engaging in research-based practice to fill gaps in good practice for digital archives and the preservation of them. She has focused on building an international community of practice for digital archives and preservation most recently with the development and promulgation of the Radical Collaboration model for working within and across domains.
Anne R. Kenney was an American librarian and archivist known for her work in digital preservation.
Richard Pearce-Moses is an American archivist and educator. He was president of the Society of American Archivists in 2005–6. He was recognized by the Library of Congress for his work as a Digital Preservation Pioneer. He was the first director of the Master of Archival Studies (MAS) program at Clayton State University.
Helen Ruth Tibbo is an American archivist, professor and author writing about digital preservation in the archival profession. At the University of North Carolina, she created and directed the first American master's degree on digital curation. She is a past President of the Society of American Archivists
Michèle V. Cloonan is an American library and information science educator. She is a professor in the School of Library and Information Science at Simmons University, in Boston, Massachusetts, and Dean Emerita of the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at Simmons. She is an advocate for the preservation of cultural heritage.
Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty is an American librarian and administrator. An archives and special collections expert, Evangelestia-Dougherty was the executive director of the Chicago-based Black Metropolis Research Consortium from 2011 to 2013 and the director of collections and services at the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture from 2013 to 2015. From 2021 to 2024, she was the first director of the Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, the world's largest museum library system.
Ricardo L. Punzalan is a Filipino American archivist who is an Associate Professor of Information at the University of Michigan School of Information. He has shaped the fields of archival science, virtual reunification, repatriation, reparative description, and has studied the nature of collections in both museums and archives. He holds undergraduate and Masters degrees from the University of the Philippines and a doctorate in information science from the University of Michigan.
