FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
London, UK, February 2011
See full press release at: http://www.digcur-education.org/eng/Resources/Press/February-2011-Press-release
BUILDING A NEW FRAMEWORK:
VOCATIONAL EDUCATION FOR DIGITAL CURATORS

Work has begun on Digital Curator Vocational Education Europe (DigCurV), a new project funded by the European Commission's Leonardo da Vinci programme to establish a framework for vocational education and training in digital curation which was launched in January.

Europe's digital sector has seen strong growth in recent years. The rapid pace of development in the information technology sector has presented both challenges and opportunities to cultural institutions responsible for managing digital collections and their long-term preservation. One of the challenges faced by institutions has been in recruiting staff with skills in the field of digital curation.

DigCurV aims to address the availability of vocational education and training needed by curators in the library, archive, museum and cultural heritage sectors to develop the new skills that are essential for the long-term management of digital collections.

This thirty-month project will identify, analyse and profile existing training opportunities, survey training needs in the sector to identify the key skills and competences required of digital curators. It will establish a curriculum framework from which training can be developed in future. The curriculum will be tested and evaluated by stakeholders during the project.

DigCurV brings together organisations from Europe, Canada and the USA with a strong track record of international work in the field of digital libraries and digital preservation. The partners include the iSchool at the University of Toronto (Canada); Fondazione Rinascimento Digitale (Italy); Goettingen State and University Library (Germany); HATII (UK); MDR Partners (UK); Trinity College Dublin, the Long Room Hub (Ireland) and Vilnius University Library (Lithuania).

The network of associated partners includes the Digital Preservation Coalition (UK), Institute of Museum and Library Services (USA), the nestor qualification consortium (Germany) and is open to new members.
-ENDS-

For more information about the project:
Visit: http://www.digcur-education.org
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