What
The Michigan State University Digital Curation Planning Project is a collaborative project led by the University Archives & Historical Collections (UAHC) with the MSU Libraries and MATRIX: The Center for Humane Arts, Letters, and Social Sciences Online, and supported by the Office of the Vice Provost of Libraries, Computing and Technology. Anticipated project outcomes include a digital curation plan and guidelines to ensure trustworthy preservation, management, and stewardship of the university’s digital assets and intellectual property.
Why
Like other research universities, Michigan State University has amassed a growing body of digital information—some of which only exists in digital form. Without an active, well-considered plan for managing and preserving these resources, they will eventually become inaccessible due to the ever-changing nature of technology.
Who
The MSU Digital Curation Planning Team includes MSU archivists, librarians, IT specialists, and digital content managers with the breadth and depth of education, experience, and responsibility to tackle the problem of digital asset management.
Team Chair: Cynthia Ghering, Director, UAHC
Project Manager: Lisa Schmidt, Electronic Records Archivist, UAHC
Nancy Fleck, Associate Director for Technical Services and Systems, MSU Libraries
Catherine Foley, Digital Librarian, MATRIX
Traci Gulick, Associate Registrar, Office of the Registrar
Shawn Nicholson, MSU Libraries
Don Ries, Director, Enterprise Information Stewardship (EIS)
Cynthia Straus, Extension Specialist
Portia Vescio, Public Services Archivist, UAHC
How
The first step in the analysis will be a survey of campus units housing representative samples of major categories of data. From there, gaps between current practices and desired best practices in the preservation and management of digital assets will be identified and guidelines created on how to address those gaps.
When
July 2009–June 2010
For More Information
For more information on the MSU Digital Curation Planning initiative please contact Lisa Schmidt at lschmidt@msu.edu or 517-884-6441.