The Quantum Archivist

The 2010 edition of the IMLS WebWise conference kicks off tomorrow in Denver with two pre-conferences. I’ve been the steward for the half-day workshop called “Digital Repositories Uncovered” run by Sarah Shreeves, Coordinator of IDEALS at UIUC, and Jessica Colati, Director of the Alliance Digital Repository here in Colorado (and yes, we are related). As I mentioned in a previous post, Sarah and Jessica have what I think is a difficult job of selling people something they need but don’t think they want. But that is only one part of the story. Managing digital repositories means more than just convincing content owners that they want to deposit. It involves understanding copyright and fair use, intellectual property law, hardware and server specifications, software applications, and how to talk to programmers. If digital repository managers were soccer players, they would be center midfielders, able to direct the flow of the game, and understand and coordinate how all the parts work.

The half-day workshop covers a range of issues repository managers have to face (I’ve seen the previews) but most importantly, I think the workshop helps repository mangers think about who they are, and their central role in the collection, management, preservation and use of digital content.