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Botticelli Appointed to Head Digital Information Management Program

The University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science (SIRLS) has appointed Dr. Peter Botticelli as the new assistant professor of practice, where he will coordinate and manage the school's new digital information management certificate program (DigIn) and teach courses in the school's master's program.

Botticelli holds a master's and a doctorate degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as a master of science degree from the University of Michigan School of Information. His research interests include digital record keeping and digital preservation, research in business history and the history of technology. Before coming to the UA, Botticelli held research positions at Cornell University, Harvard Business School, the University of Michigan and the Barnett Research Centre, focusing primarily on digital archives and digital preservation.

Now in its inaugural year, DigIn provides hands-on experience and focused instruction for people seeking new careers in or improving their skills and knowledge of digital archives, digital libraries, digital document repositories and other kinds of digital collections. The DigIn program addresses the need for the rapid scaling of education and training for professionals capable of managing digital objects across multiple settings.

DigIn emphasizes a functional approach to curriculum development and has been developed with broad input from a national panel of subject matter experts and practitioner librarians, archivists, records managers and technologists.

SIRLS and the UA Office of Continuing Education jointly administer the new graduate certificate program in Digital Information Management in partnership with the Arizona State Library, Archives and Public Records. Major grant funding for the DigIn program comes from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services' Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian program.

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