Research Interests

Digital Preservation; Digital Curation; Digital Repositories; Scholarly Communication; Blogs

Current Research

2007 - 2009

Digital Curation Curriculum (DigCCurr) Project
Preserving Access to Our Digital Future: Building an International Digital Curation Curriculum (DigCCurr) project: DigCCurr is a three-year (2006-09), IMLS-funded project to develop an openly accessible, graduate-level curricular framework, course modules, and experiential components to prepare students for digital curation in various environments (IMLS grant #: RE-05-06-0044). The project is led by Drs. Helen R. Tibbo (PI) and Christopher A. Lee, (co-PI), in partnership with the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).

Past Research

2005 - 2009	Carolina Digital Repository Project Worked on provost-sponsored, university-wide Digital Curation/Institutional Repository Committee (DC/IRC) at UNC-CH, charged with creating a digital preservation program and proof-of-concept institutional repository. Entailed extensive review of literature, best practices and other documentation, resulting in recommendations, technical reports, briefs and draft policies in support of deployed instance. DC/IRC Final Report Executive Summary and TOC: PDF \| Poster: PDF
2008	Babies in Bathtubs: Public Views of Private Moments in the Flickr Domain With Jacob Kramer-Duffield, this study examined a particular class of content – adult posting of photos depicting the iconic image of "babies in bathtubs," on Flickr - with the objective to quantify and describe issues of openness, access and privacy to raise awareness that these issues cross generational lines. The study analyzed the first 500 images, sorted by relevancy, resulting from a pre-tested search string yielding 5552 results. In total, 327 were selected for further analysis. From these images, 190 unique contributors, or profiles, were identified. In total, 47 elements were coded for analysis, 26 pertaining to images and 21 pertaining to profiles. Preliminary Findings: PDF
2007 - 2008	Challenges, Curricula, and Competencies: Researcher and Practitioner Perspectives for Informing the Development of a Digital Curation Curriculum Served as PI on survey research done in support of DigCCurr project. Survey disseminated over two-stages to researchers, educators, and practitioners working in the areas of digital curation and preservation. The survey assessed respondents' perspectives on barriers to digital curation in the field setting; core curriculum competencies and functions; and professional competencies and hiring practices. A total of 55 completed surveys were accepted for analysis, resulting in a 25% response rate. The data was analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative techniques. Preliminary Findings: PDF
2007 - 2008	Blogger Perceptions on Digital Preservation Served as study's PI, with Songphan Choemprayong and Laura Sheble, Co-PIs, under guidance of Paul Jones, Faculty Advisor. Conducted web survey distributed to a core group of 33 bloggers using a snowballing technique. The survey consisted of 40 to 46 open- and closed-ended questions across five subject areas: Demographics (Characteristics and Behaviors), Awareness, Appraisal, Impact, and Investment. The survey was administered April 23-May 23, 2007. In total, 223 surveys were completed.
2006 - 2007	Building from Trust: Using the RLG/NARA Audit Checklist for Institutional Repository Planning and Deployment Under guidance of Dr. Helen R. Tibbo and in support of the work of the Digital Curation/Institutional Repository Committee, served as Project Manager on survey research study on use of institutional repository planning documentation across Association of Research Libraries member institutions.
2006-2008	Triangle Research Libraries Network Institutional Repository Forum Conducted initial survey of TRLN member institutions on institutional repository (IR) development and deployment activities, in preparation for the December 2006 TRLN IR Forum. Conducted follow-up survey in December 2008 to assess progress. 2006 Forum Fact Sheet: PDF
2006 - 2007	State Library of North Carolina Library Services and Technology Act Program Evaluation With Drs. Jeffrey Pomerantz and Charles R. McClure, completed a study funded by the State Library of North Carolina (SLNC) to evaluate the impact of Library Services & Technology Act (LSTA) funds in North Carolina over the course of the SLNC's 5-year LSTA Plan 2003-07. LSTA Final Report: PDF
2004 - 2005	Sense-making the Information Confluence: The Whys and Hows of College and University User Satisficing of Information Needs Assisted in implementation of IMLS-funded, collaborative study between the Ohio State University (Dr. Brenda Dervin, PI) and OCLC (Drs. Lynn Silipigni Connaway and Chandra Prabha, Co-Investigators), including: randomized sampling for student and faculty participants at state-wide universities; management of eight focus group interviews and fifteen structured observation sessions; and observation and documentation of participant responses and contributions.
2004 - 2005	Moving From Print to Electronic Study completed at OCLC, with Dr. Chandra Prabha, Principle Investigator, assessing the transition of Association of Research Libraries (ARL) in the movement from hybrid to predominantly electronic journal collections. Collected information on subscription status and format of a random sample of 516 journals that were subscribed by ARL members in 2004, and assisted in comparison to data collected on subscriptions in 2002.