By Kevin Cherry, IMLS, and Esra Oden, Library of Congress The exponential growth of digital content has created a demand for library and information  professionals with new skills.  To meet this demand, IMLS, working in partnership with the Library of Congress, Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI), is developing a national residency program in digital curation. (For the purposes of this program, “digital curation” means the act of collecting, selecting, managing, making accessible, and preserving digital assets over long periods of time.) The “IMLS/Library of Congress Residency Program in Digital Curation” will do the following:

• Foster the creation of a cadre of experts versed in digital curation
• Encourage current library and information science (“LIS”) schools to include more experiential learning as part of their standard curriculum
• Define the core components of a digital curation field experience, setting the stage for a national model for field experiences in digital curation

The program will be designed to enhance LIS curricula by complementing the classroom experience with hands-on field experiences at leading Washington, DC institutions. We expect that the residency program will include a beginning, intensive workshop for all residents, followed by field placements, and special topic training by recognized experts.  Outstanding, graduate-level students currently enrolled in nationally accredited LIS programs, as well as recent post-master’s graduates with an LIS concentration will be encouraged to apply. Leading practitioners and scholars will help design the program. We expect the residency to become a highly visible national model, one that will be openly and widely shared through the use of tools such as a project manual, online toolbox, wikis, etc. Planning for the project has just begun and the first residents should be in place beginning in the summer of 2013. For more information about the Library of Congress, please visit www.loc.gov. Questions about the residency program may be directed to Kevin Cherry at kcherry@imls.gov.