Managing Born-Digital Materials

Together with colleagues from Duke University, Michigan State, and the University of Michigan, Michelle Belden, Jackie Esposito, Ben Goldman, and Tim Pyatt recently published Managing Born-Digital Special Collections and Archival Materials as part of the Association of Research Libraries (ARL) SPEC Kit series (no. 329).

This publication includes the results and analysis of a survey of the ARL to assess the emerging best practices for the acquisition, preservation, processing, and access of and to the increasing volume born-digital materials in special collections and archives. Included as appendices are examples of workflows, job descriptions, and policies submitted by some of surveyed institutions. The report offers a good snapshot of where major research libraries are in the establishing best practice for managing born-digital materials and suggests trends for where we are headed.