Moving from Paper to Pixels

There is no doubt that Dartmouth is in a period of transition from a paper to a digital-based institution. While paper will be with us for decades to come, Jeffrey Horrell, dean of libraries and librarian of the College, has noted that, "There is a compelling need for Dartmouth to develop an institutional strategy to guide the transition from a paper to a primarily digital environment for academic and administrative records. It is critical that Dartmouth's core digital information, and the information of its faculty, is safeguarded and available into the future."

Preliminary efforts on this issue have been underway with a campus-wide survey and focus groups that highlighted the need for action, and recent work between Dartmouth and Duke University sponsored by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This work culminated in a meeting with library directors, vice presidents for information technology, and vice provosts from Brown, Duke, Michigan, MIT, Yale, and Dartmouth. All attendees agreed to remain in contact to share information and progress.

"Input from this diverse group of institutions will help us work through the many complex issues involved," says Martin Wybourne, vice provost for research. When the Dartmouth-Duke report is final, it will be made available to the Dartmouth community.

Ellen Waite-Franzen, vice president for information technology, says, "A real challenge is to bridge between various forms of content, which will require the development of new policies. Information itself has a life cycle that differs by type. Some things need to be kept forever, while some may be discarded after a certain period of time. Accessibility, privacy rights, confidentiality of data, and intellectual property issues play into this as well."

Provost Barry Scherr has received a draft copy of the Dartmouth-Duke report and, as a result, has charged a steering committee to develop a strategic plan for Dartmouth. The plan will articulate and promote an enterprise digital information management program, including policies and procedures, potential costs, and an implementation process. The steering committee will be responsible for obtaining input from academic deans, faculty, administrators, and students. Scherr is committed to ensuring the accessibility of Dartmouth's digital assets. "It's an enormous challenge, but a critical one that needs to be addressed from an institutional perspective," he says.

By KELLY SEAMAN

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