Praise for U-Me’s Digital Curation online classes

Dig 500 Wordle WarmAfter only a year online, the University of Maine’s graduate certificate in Digital Curation is being called “a national standard for the study of digital curation.”

Mystified by metadata? Perplexed by preservation? The University of Maine’s just-launched Digital Curation program has you covered, at least to judge from these reviews from student evaluations this spring:

“The DIG program is off to a terrific start as a national standard for the study of digital curation.”

“Being able to read from Re-collection: New Media and Social Memory, while given lessons by one of the book’s authors…that’s just fantastic!”

“Well-ordered sequence, and an abundance of reading and informal exchange without an overemphasis on scholarly responses.”

“The instructors are approachable, personable, and collegial with students.”

“The breadth of [the instructors’] experience and knowledge (to say nothing of the eloquence, informativeness, and wit of their text) have made me feel that this first, inaugural class will be saying ‘we were there when’…”

This year saw the premiere of our online Introduction to Digital Curation (DIG 500) as well as new courses on representing digital assets with metadata (DIG 510) and preserving digital data for the long term (DIG 550).

The introductory course, DIG 500, will be offered again in September 2013, along with a more advanced course in Digital Collections and Exhibitions (DIG 540). DIG 500 covers how digital artifacts are made, acquired into collections, and tracked, including legal and technical considerations. The course is taught by Special Collections librarian Richard Hollinger, art historian Justin Wolff, and former Guggenheim curator Jon Ippolito.

Dig 540 Wordle WarmDIG 540, meanwhile, teaches curators how to use a database to put their collections online. Instructor John Bell will train students in PHP and MySQL, the two most common languages used for crafting collection-driven Web sites. In addition, Bell will also show how to use PHP to customize software packages like WordPress or Drupal, and thereby create a more distinctive presence for your collection online.

You can register for either class or the entire certificate here.

The Digital Curation program is a two-year graduate certificate, taught online, intended for folks working in museums, archives, artist studios, government offices, and anywhere that people need to manage digital files. The program walks students through the phases of managing digitized or born-digital artifacts, including acquisition, representation, access, and preservation.

Anyone with a BA or higher degree can apply by submitting a letter of application. Although the certificate is designed to be completed in two years, part-time students may choose to spread the 18 credits (6 courses) over a longer period.

Collecting institutions of all stripes, from local archives and town offices to university museums and state libraries, may be interested in placing an intern from the program. The program even allows students to intern in their place of employment, since all would benefit from both the student’s added expertise and the actual work done for the internship.

Feel free to contact us if you’re interested in these classes. You can also follow us on Twitter as @DigitCurator.

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