“Digital Curation and Archives:
An Annotated Bibliography”
Deborah A. Garwood
MSLIS Candidate, Drexel University
Professor Michael Krasulski
Graduate Student Paper
• Final Project for Database Course
–Information Access & Resources
–Information Storage and Retrieval
–Controlled vocabulary
–User behavior
(Mine!)
Learning Goals, part 1
• Explore the literature of my topic
• Utilize databases of different types
• Database information structure varies
• Search strategies, Search strings
Learning Goals, part 2
• Search Strategies
– Browsing – Author Search – Citation search
– Keyword search
– Controlled vocabulary search
• Search Strings
– Boolean operators
– Proximity and other operators
– Role of Controlled Vocabulary
“Digital Curation” Term
• LIS databases, controlled vocabulary
• Web of Science, “Topic” (keyword)
Search Strings
• Proximity and Boolean operators can expand and
contract a Search.
• Limiters for time period and document type are
extremely useful.
((digit* librar* NEAR/5 archive*) OR "digital
curation") AND (yr(2006-2015)
Learning Goals, part 3
• Establish Authority of Research
• Authoritative Journals
– Ulrich’s Web
– Journal’s own website
• Authoritative Authors
– Affiliation and bio
• Analyze match between Journal and Author
Author Keywords
• Not all articles had author keywords
But I began to look for author keywords
Due to so many variations in the conceptual and
practical meaning of “digital curation”.
Learning Goals, part 4
• Annotate each article
• Shape articles into a thesis
• Offer a conclusion about the topic
Challenging Project!
• Learning about search techniques
• While also performing searches with
those techniques
• In different database environments.
• Winnow +50 articles to -20
Databases
Search Strategies
DATA – INFORMATION – SEARCH - RETRIEVAL
“Berry-picking”
(thank you Marcia Bates!)
17 Scholarly Articles
Annotated Bibliography
“Digital Curation and Archives”
• Topic viewed in LIS context
• Time period 2006—2014
• International and domestic research
• LIS Databases, Web of Science, ABIINFORM, Google Scholar
Trends 2006—2014
• 2006-2008 Optimism that libraries could act
as digital repositories for their institutions
• 2012 Surge in research; Archivists comment
• 2014 Can libraries can serve scholars while
also being institutional repositories?
• 2014 Call for further research, for educating
Digital Curation professionals
“Digital Curation”
• A term and a practice
• Draws on information science
and archival science
• Large-scale digital projects
• Networked, sharable data.
Thematic Groups
– Theoretical orientation:
• How term “digital curation” developed
– Academic settings:
• Need for education about digital curation
– Archivists’ perspectives:
• Archivists have critical skills to contribute
– False positives:
• “Digital Curation” in other senses
– Most recent:
• Future research directions call on Archival Science
Archivists’ Perspectives
• Lee and Tibbo (2011) suggested that digital
curation is the large-scale version of digital
preservation (p. 160).
• Ross (2012) observed that digital libraries
“may be libraries by name, but they are
archives by nature” (p. 50).
Challenges
• Librarians without training in digital curation
may develop curation systems unique to their
institution, albeit with good intent
(Harris-Pierce & Liu, 2012, p. 601).
• Yakel and Conway (2011) noted that students
who grow up with connectivity aren’t
necessarily information literate (p. 23).
Realities
• Librarians and Archivists are working in
hybrid environments.
• Fox (2014) noted that the library paradigm has
shifted from one of “repository” to
“conduit of information” (p. 172).
Summary of Findings
Funding drives digital curation.
Sharing data is a huge challenge.
Digital curation requires LIS skills.
Especially Archival skills.
Conclusion
Theory + Practice
Further research investigating Digital
Curation will help define this new
profession,
as skilled Digital Curation Specialists enter
the field and participate in its
development.
*Questions & comments welcome*
References
Bengtson, J. (2012). Preparing for the age of the digital
palimpsest. Library Hi Tech, 30(3), 513–522.
Borgman, C. L. (2012). The conundrum of sharing
research data. Journal of the American
Society for Information Science and Technology, 63(6),
1059–1078.
Caplan, P. (2012). On discovery tools, OPACs and the
motion of library language. Library Hi
Tech, 30(1), 108–115.
References, cont.
Choudhury, G. S. (2008). Case study in data curation
at Johns Hopkins University. Library Trends, 57(2),
211–220.
Fox, R. (2012). Digital libraries: the systems analysis
perspective. OCLC Systems & Services: International
Digital Library Perspectives, 28(4), 170–175.
Gold, A. (2007a). Cyberinfrastructure, data, and
libraries, part 1: A cyberinfrastructure primer for
librarians. D-Lib Magazine, 13(9-10), 1.0-1.8.
References, cont.
Gold, A. (2007b). Cyberstructure, data, and libraries, part
2: Libraries and the data challenge: Roles and actions for
libraries. D-Lib Magazine, 13(9-10), 2.1-2.5.
Harris‐Pierce, R. L., & Quan Liu, Y. (2012). Is data curation
education at library and information science schools in
North America adequate? New Library World,
113(11/12), 598–613.
Jørn Nielsen, H., & Hjørland, B. (2014). Curating research
data: the potential roles of libraries and information
professionals. Journal of Documentation, 70(2), 221–240.
References, cont.
Lee, C. A., & Tibbo, H. (2011). Where’s the archivist in
digital curation? Exploring the possibilities through a
matrix of knowledge and skills. Archivaria, 72(72), 123168.
McMeekin, S. M. (2011). With a little help from OAIS:
Starting down the digital curation path. Journal of the
Society of Archivists, 32(2), 241–253.
Ovadia, S. (2013). Digital content curation and why it
matters to librarians. Behavioral & Social Sciences
Librarian, 32(1), 58–62.
References, cont.
Ray, J. (2012). The rise of digital curation and
cyberinfrastructure. Library Hi Tech, 30(4), 604–622.
Ross, S. (2012). Digital Preservation, archival science and
methodological foundations for digital libraries. New
Review of Information Networking, 17(1), 43–68.
Steinhart, G. (2006). Libraries as distributors of geospatial
data: Data management policies as tools for managing
partnerships. Library Trends, 5(2), 264–284.
References, cont.
Toups, M., & Hughes, M. (2013). When data
curation isn’t: A redefinition for liberal arts
universities. Journal of Library Administration,
53(4), 223–233.
Yakel, E., Conway, P., Hedstrom, M., & Wallace,
D. (2011). Digital curation for digital natives.
Journal of Education for Library & Information
Science, 52(1), 23–31.