LAM education for digital curation: A North American perspective

Abstract

Libraries, Archives, and Museums (LAM), although approaching the problem of cultural heritage conservation from different perspectives, must all successfully curate and preserve digital content for future use. In order to investigate the convergence of digital curation education in North America, it is first necessary to identify the prevalence of courses within the various curricula. This study aims to provide an initial insight into the prevalence of courses offered in Library and Information Science (LIS) that may provide training in the core competences of digital curators as identified in the DILL Delphi study of 2011 (Tammaro & Madrid, 2012). American Library Association (ALA)-accredited programs in LIS were analyzed to ascertain whether courses relevant to competences needed for digital curation were included in the curriculum. More than four-fifths (n=41; 83.7%) of LIS programs surveyed had at least one class that would appear to meet at least one competence for digital curatorship as identified by the DILL study. Courses where contents address Operational Competences learned in classes such as Digital Libraries, Metadata, and Informatics could be found at roughly 60% (n=30; 61.2%) of programs studied. Additionally, almost three quarters (n=36; 73.5%) of programs offer courses in Metadata, Management of Digital Records, Digital Curation, and Digital Preservation that address Managerial Competences. The current study suggests that it is time for LIS to look beyond its own traditional borders and to seek out the assistance and expertise of related and complementary fields such as Archival Studies and Museum Studies as a way of preparing effective leaders in the emerging field of digital curation.