The Digital Content Management Curriculum A Case Study at Wayne State University’s School of Library & Information Science Joan E. Beaudoin School of Library & Information Science Wayne State University Detroit, Michigan, USA joane.beaudoin@gmail.com Abstract—This paper examines the development of a In the analysis of the offerings of other ALA accredited specialization for digital content management at the School of MLIS programs, it was discovered that a third of these Library and Information Science at Wayne State University. supported a concentration that falls within the digital realm. Addressed in this case study are the pedagogical approach taken in Chief among these digitally-oriented MLIS concentrations were the specialization’s curriculum development and the steps that those focusing on digital libraries and digital curation and, or were taken in developing the curriculum. The paper highlights five core characteristics that were used to describe the kinds of digital preservation. The finding of greater job prospects for the knowledge and skills expected from students completing the more technically-oriented positions in The Occupational specialization. Additionally, the paper discusses the resources Outlook Handbook also contributed to the development of the needed to support the specialization and the indicators to be used in DCM track. Additional support for the concentration was the the evaluation of its success. general growing awareness among the School’s faculty of the importance of digital curation and preservation across all Keywords—digital content, digital curation, curriculum segments of society, thanks in large part to the increasingly development, curriculum support. digital world we find ourselves operating within today. The impact of digital content in our daily lives is now nearly I.INTRODUCTION universal, and this reality continues to evolve as we strive to This paper discusses the development of a specialization educate individuals who will be capable of managing and which focuses on the creation, management and preservation of researching ways to preserve our common cultural heritage. digital content within Wayne State University’s School of In an effort to contribute to this conversation surrounding Library and Information Science (SLIS). The specialization, digital content in the cultural heritage sector, the DCM Digital Content Management (DCM), was developed as a result specialization was developed. The specialization was designed of an analysis of the School’s curriculum that was completed in to prepare individuals to process, manage, preserve and provide the fall of 2011. In September of 2011 the Curriculum access to information-bearing objects that exist in a digital form. Subcommittee of the Academic Concerns Committee within the School was charged with making recommendations to the As there is a dearth of adequately trained individuals to meet the needs of institutions with collections of digital content, it was faculty concerning revisions to its current curriculum, its felt that the addition of this specialization would make an certificates and specializations. The analysis of the School’s important contribution to the education of library and curriculum was undertaken through several means. Examined information science professionals. A proposal for the first in the analysis was how the School’s course offerings, specialization was submitted to the Graduate School at Wayne specializations and certificates compared to the other American State University in January of 2012 and approval for the changes Library Association accredited programs of library and information science [1]. Against this analysis, the subcommittee to the School’s offerings was received in the spring of 2012. The specialization was made available to students at the start of the examined the potential job opportunities of its graduates by mapping job position titles of recent MLIS graduates against the 2012-2013 academic year. At the start of winter 2013 semester, approximately 50 students are following this specialization. This positions given in the United States Department of Labor, number represents slightly less than 10% of all currently Bureau of Labor Statistics’ 2010-2011 edition of The enrolled MLIS students within the SLIS. From the number of Occupational Outlook Handbook [2]. Additional items analyzed students who have already indicated this as their specialization, during this process of self-examination included the School’s it would appear that students appreciate the need for individuals mission and its faculty’s areas of expertise. with the knowledge and skills needed to work with digital students need to be able to perform this work?” For this question content. the available library and information science syllabi and the literature with digitally oriented themes were collected and II.PEDAGOGICAL APPROACH analyzed for topical coverage. From this analysis a lengthy list Behind the development of the DCM curriculum was a of critical knowledge and skills was developed (e.g., code using strong focus on experiential learning. This approach fits well XML, perform basic image editing tasks using Adobe with the mission of the School and also with several of its Photoshop, create entity-relationship diagrams, understand and faculty’s backgrounds. As SLIS has a history of producing use the terminology of the profession, track items through graduates with well-developed practical skills, there is long several processes belonging to multiple projects, etc.). In order standing tradition within the School of coursework that is to make the task more manageable, the many entries on the list strongly supported through interactive practice based learning. were combined and abstracted into higher level concepts which Within SLIS’ curriculum students are provided with theoretical, were felt to represent the core characteristics expected from historical and foundational content and this is supplemented by students who have successfully completed the DCM curriculum. hands-on exercises putting their growing knowledge into These abstracted core characteristics focus the specialization’s practice. efforts on developing student’s knowledge and skills on ways for them to effectively produce, manage, analyze, design, and The School’s tradition of experiential learning runs parallel communicate about, digital content. These characteristics also to the faculty’s pedagogical approach, since the topic of serve as a rubric within which to analyze expected managing digital content is seen through a lens of several competencies. decades of work experience in this area. Faculty members approach teaching from perspectives informed by real world Produce: software proficiencies, digitization experience developing collections of digital content to support techniques, checksum processes, coding, humanistic study within an academic setting and managing description, metadata creation, knowledge of archives and digitization projects within the private sector. Thus, formats, etc. the development of the DCM curriculum was very much Manage: social parameters, disposition, project informed by the day-to-day realities of those individuals whose management, personnel, copyright, policies, risk job responsibilities include digitizing, describing, managing and assessment, budgeting, standards, etc. preserving digital content. Analyze: system analysis, needs assessment, data modeling, contextual factors, evaluation, III. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS strategize, research, etc. Communicate: terminology, presentations, The specialization’s curriculum, which needed to include training, document processes and decisions, coverage the entire suite of processes involved in planning for, marketing, outreach, reporting, etc. creating, describing and preserving digital content, was Design: system development, database design, developed using several methods. First, a list of the topics which thesauri creation, color theory, use of visual needed to be covered to develop graduates’ skills and knowledge information, usability, etc. for performing work in this area were identified. This was followed by an assessment of these topics against their coverage Fig. 1. Core Characteristics of the Specialization. within courses currently offered at the School. Those topics which were not treated in sufficient detail within the curriculum With such a long list of topics to be addressed and skills to were identified, and these were used to develop several new be learned, natural groupings of course content were noted. courses within the curriculum. Finally, additional means of Some of these were issues concerning process and techniques supporting the specialization were identified. As the means of when performing work on singular items (Produce), while others curriculum support are not directly related to the content of the were issues that were administrative in nature (Manage). A coursework, they are treated separately in the next section. What number of other skills concerned the ability to present, train, follows is a discussion of the route that was followed to develop write and create reports (Communicate). Another group of the curriculum for the DCM specialization. pedagogical concepts to be covered had to do with critical thinking, evaluation, assessing information and problem-solving A. What Content? (Analyze). A final group was concerned with developing The primary driving question behind developing the systems and providing creative solutions (Design). curriculum was “What are the critical skills and knowledge that From the noted groupings of topics, the following abstract work experience with digital content are strongly encouraged to core characteristics (Fig. 1) were formed to contain the various perform a directed credit-bearing practicum within an institution core competencies expected from the specialization’s students. to receive formalized training in the field. These are presented here with several examples of the Like many programs of library and information science in competencies falling within each group. North America, the predominant mode of course delivery in the With this list in hand, the process of developing the School is online. Each of the courses in the specialization uses curriculum rested on examining the School’s course offerings the combination of recorded lectures, lecture notes and online and discovering which competencies were not covered. synchronous meetings for delivering pedagogical course content. While this pedagogical method is sufficient for the B. What Courses? majority of the curriculum’s topics, the development of All of Wayne State University’s Master of Library and particular skill sets among the DCM students’ is not possible Information Science graduates take a core of six courses through online instruction. As the hardware and software used to introducing them to the basics of the library and information digitize analog items and manipulate digital files at a science profession (vocabulary, ethics, careers, information professional level are beyond the reach of all but a small retrieval, access, etc.). In addition to the core courses, students minority of students, an on-campus institute where they receive complete an additional six courses within their specialization. hands-on experience within a digital media lab is under To determine what the curriculum might look like, courses were development. To begin during the fall of 2013, this credit- identified that were already a part of the School’s curriculum bearing intensive course will allow students to create and edit that would develop the knowledge and skills, as was outlined digital content that they will continue to work with as they above. Several courses, (LIS7410 Software Productivity Tools progress through the DCM curriculum. The institute will for Information Professionals, LIS7415 Project Management introduce students to digitization processes using analog image, and 7460 Databases Concepts and Applications for Librarians), audio and video originals through a series of lectures and hands- offered content that would provide students with several on activities. With this critical phase of instruction completed experiences considered key to their development. For example, they will perform additional processes to these digital items as a in these two courses students complete assignments working part of their online coursework. The underlying idea for the with large amounts of data, managing simultaneous projects, specialization’s curriculum is to have students understand the designing and delivering effective technology instruction, and entire lifecycle of digital content so that they are better prepared implementing a database design based on systems analysis. Two for the various responsibilities and challenges they will find in additional courses, (LIS7900 Digital Libraries and LIS7910 the workplace. Metadata in Theory and Practice), which had previously been taught as occasional special topics courses, were added to the IV. SUPPORTING THE CURRICULUM School’s curriculum as a part of the specialization’s proposal The curriculum for the DCM specialization is supported by a sent to the Graduate School. These courses covered in detail a number of individuals (faculty and staff) and resources full range of topics about metadata (e.g., standard schemas, (hardware, software, documentation and planning) on campus. application profiles, mapping and XML coding) and digital The specialization’s course content is currently delivered by four libraries (e.g., collection development, user needs and services, individuals. Two individuals hold doctoral degrees in library and usability and evaluation). information science and are employed within the School as full- Through the analysis of the course content it was discovered time faculty. Complementing this are two individuals with that while several courses offered some coverage of the practical experience in their respective areas (information management and preservation of digital content, the topical technology and digitization) who hold MLIS degrees. These two depth was not sufficient to prepare students for work in this area. individuals are also employed full-time by the School and have a Particular topics that were missing from the current curriculum combination of responsibilities associated with administrative or were an overall view of the data lifecycle, specific actions on technical support and teaching. Other staff hours are provided by data for preservation purposes (e.g., ingesting, validating, graduate student assistants who supply email, phone and in- authenticating, normalizing, migrating, etc.), and issues person assistance for technical issues to students and faculty, surrounding access (legal considerations, security, and administrative personnel perform a variety of functions to transformation, etc.). Thus, LIS7920 Digital Curation and ensure daily operations within the School. Preservation was developed to meet this need. Additionally, students who follow this specialization without any practical In addition to the individuals involved in supporting the where their primary job responsibilities require them to work curriculum for the specialization are a number of resources with digital content. An additional indicator of success, as it is beyond those provided to the university’s community at large. hoped that the specialization will increase understanding about First among these is the physical space and equipment used for digital content issues, is the number and percentage of its its Digital Media Lab. The Lab, which has been outfitted with students and alumni who contribute to the scholarly record hardware and software for image, audio and video digitization through publications on this topic. As the specialization is a new processes, replicates what students would encounter in a offering at the School, the activities of students and alumni will professional facility. The specialization’s students also have be tracked as they work through the curriculum and move into access to a virtual online lab for access to software for post- the field. This data will provide information to be used for future digitization processes used in their coursework. As practice- development of the DCM curriculum. based projects are expected of all students within the specialization, various forms of digital repository, digital library VI.CONCLUSION and digital preservation software are available (hosted by SLIS The development of DCM specialization has been a and outside vendors), and network attached devices currently welcomed addition to the School of Library and Information provide roughly 16 terabytes of storage space for various course Science at Wayne State University and it has seen a great deal of projects. support at the individual and institutional level. It is clear from The curriculum is also supported by several School the support received for the specialization that there is a deep sponsored community building activities. The School hosts a appreciation for knowledge in this area and an student group associated with National Digital Stewardship acknowledgement of how critical this issue is in our current Alliance, which brings together individuals who share an world. interest in working on issues concerning the management and After analyzing potential content and developing the preservation of digital content. The group keeps students up to curriculum, researching and procuring equipment and the many date on current issues, provides opportunities for hands-on months of planning to make the specialization a reality, seeing practice, and introduces individuals working in the field. Last its first students graduate in the next few semesters will be fall this group was pivotal in the planning of a colloquium, titled tremendously rewarding. How these individuals progress in their Converge and Ingest: Learning about Digital Preservation, careers and the feedback they provide concerning their which focused attention on issues concerning digital experiences will provide critical information concerning the preservation through a series of papers and case studies [3]. success of the specialization. In an institution with such a long history of graduating practitioners who work with and respect V. EVALUATION OF THE SPECIALIZATION cultural materials, it is hoped that this tradition will be enhanced The DCM specialization has the potential to have an by highlighting the important and often problematic issues important impact within organizations and institutions whose surrounding digital content. missions involve the care and management of cultural materials. REFERENCES Because of the vital role the School plays in educating professionals in this area, it has set into place methods of [1] American Library Association. Alphabetical List of evaluating the success of the specialization and its students. The Institutions with ALA-Accredited Programs, 2013. Accessed primary outcome to be assessed is how well the specialization from: http://www.ala.org/accreditedprograms/directory/alphalist meets its goal of increasing the number of individuals with skills [2] United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor and expertise in the areas of digital libraries, data curation, Statistics. Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010. Accessed digital preservation and metadata. An evaluation of the from: http://www.bls.gov/ooh/. specialization’s success will be undertaken using indicators [3] Wayne State University National Digital Stewardship which incorporate several dimensions. In the short term, one Alliance Student Group. Converge and Ingest: Learning about indicator of its success is the number and percentage of SLIS Digital Preservation Colloquium, 2012. Accessed from: students who enroll in the School based on the availability of the http://wsustudentndsa.wordpress.com/2012/10/03/converge- specialization. A similar measure assesses the number of and-ingest-learning-about-digital-preservation-colloquium/. students who chose this specialization once they have enrolled in the School. An indicator which speaks to the longer term impact of the specialization is the number and percentage of SLIS’ graduates who obtain full-time employment in positions