Library and archives preservation managers and collection development officers are responsible for the care of both paper-based collections and new and multimedia information. These professionals focus on preservation planning issues, such as climate and light control, security, and insurance. They also work in conservation — often with conservators, binders, and other experts, and sometimes in disaster-recovery situations after war or natural disasters.
Simmons GSLIS has the distinction of being the only LIS program in the country to have been offering preservation courses continuously since 1981. Working closely with the Northeast Document Conservation Center (NEDCC) and the North Bennet Street School, the Simmons GSLIS preservation program combines hands-on practical experiences with the theoretical underpinnings of preservation and conservation. Simmons GSLIS also draws on a strong pool of preservation professionals in the Boston area as adjunct faculty and internship supervisors. Our array of courses is unmatched with content that covers the continuum of analog to digital.
Curriculum, Cooperation, Convergence, Capacity: Four C's for the Development of Cultural Heritage Institutions
In July 2009, Simmons GSLIS received a grant of over $450,000 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) for what is known on campus as the 4Cs project. As part of the project, GSLIS is partnering with seven New England cultural institutions to incorporate museum informatics and data stewardship into an existing program of study. Partner affiliates are: American Textile History Museum, Concord Free Public Library, Connecticut Historical Society, Historic New England, Museum of African American History, Phillips Library Peabody Essex Museum, and Shelburne Museum. The grant supports institutional capacity building for cultural heritage convergence at GSLIS, and is funded for a period of three years. IMLS is the primary source of Federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. "The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas."
Want to know more about preservation and curation, but can't commit to a full program? Take a look at some of the offerings we have in our Continuing Education area, starting with the March 2010 three-day workshop on digital image curation. Co-taught by Ross Harvey and Martha Mahard, the workshop will take place March 11-13, 2010, at Simmons' Boston campus. For more information, please contact us at gslisce@simmons.edu.
GSLIS Preservation Faculty recommend that at least seven of the twelve courses listed below be taken to complete the Preservation Concentration. Courses with an asterisk are recommended but not required:
- LIS 425: History of the Book
- LIS 439: Preservation Management
- LIS 441: Appraisal of Archives and Manuscripts*
- LIS 444: Archiving and Preserving Digital Media
- LIS 447: Collection Maintenance
- LIS 462: Digital Libraries*
- LIS 471: Photographic Archives and Visual Information
- LIS 500: Independent Study
- LIS 531T: The Medieval Manuscript from Charlemagne to Gutenberg*
- LIS 531V: Cultural Heritage Informatics
- LIS 531W: Digital Stewardship
- LIS 531X: Practicum for Cultural Heritage Informatics
Preservation Faculty
Dean and Professor Michele Cloonan, an expert in the field of preservation and conservation, Cloonan advocated approaching preservation from a broad cultural perspective in her 2001 Library Quarterly article "W(h)ither Preservation?" Over the past twenty-five years, she has written extensively in the areas of preservation, book trade history, and bibliography. Her most recent publications have concerned the preservation of digital media and the moral and ethical dimensions of preserving cultural heritage.
Visiting Professor Ross Harvey's research interests include the preservation of library and archival materials, the history of print culture, nineteenth-century New Zealand and Australian newspaper history, and the history of music printing and publishing. He has written many books and articles on library preservation, and his articles have been published in Library Trends, Australian Library Journal and Journal of Library and Information Management, among others.
Professor of Practice Martha Mahard has more than three decades of professional experience with the Harvard University Libraries, including work with historic photographs and visual collections at the Fine Arts Library, the Harvard Graduate School of Design, and the Harvard Theatre Collection of The Houghton Library. She has lectured and written widely in the field of photographic archives and visual information.