Information Management

How can organizations manage and preserve their digital data well? How do data curation and sharing processes change in a digital and networked environment? Which role do social and ethical issues play when it comes to trusting digital repositories? Prof. Rebecca Frank, Ph.D. is investigating these questions. Since September 2019 she is ECDF Professor at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin at the Institute for Library and Information Science (IBI). Previously, she was a Research Fellow at the University of Michigan School of Information (USA). Her work has been supported by the National Science Foundation and the Australian Academy of Science.

“My research examines the social construction of risk in trustworthy digital repository audit and certification”, she says. She investigates what the concept of risk means to different people involved in digital preservation, and the factors that influence how people develop their understanding of risk. Frank also conducts research in the areas of digital preservation, digital curation, and data sharing and reuse.“In my research, I focus on the social and ethical barriers that limit or prevent the preservation, sharing, and reuse of digital information”, she explains.

In her new role at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, she remains connected to ECDF: "The opportunities created by ECDF have allowed me to build a strong research portfolio and create valuable collaborations with colleagues here in Berlin and internationally. I look forward to staying connected to ECDF as an associate member and continuing the projects I started with ECDF colleagues as I take the next step in my career."