The Open Data Imperative - How the Cultural Heritage Community Can Address the Federal Mandate

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake

The Open Data Imperative examines how the cultural heritage community can respond to a federal open data mandate through shared language, digital platforms, and actionable governance. Drawing on a structured review of public access plans and interviews, the report explains cyberinfrastructure and defines data for consistent implementation. It then outlines findings for responding to the mandate, implementing digital curation, and building capacity via curriculum, competencies, and career pathways, including implications, limitations, and future research directions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages87

Reading Time3 h 39 min

AccessFree to download

Executive Summary

Understanding the Background and Context

Part 1. Responding to the Mandate

Part 2. Implementing Digital Curation: Project Interviews

Part 3. Building Capacity: Curriculum, Competencies, and Careers

References

Appendices

The Open Data Imperative: How the Cultural Heritage Community Can Address the Federal Mandate Suzie Allard, Christopher Lee, Nancy Y. McGovern, Alice Bishop July 2016 CounCil on library and information resourCes ISBN 978-1-932326-56-7 CLIR Publication No. 171 Published by: Council on Library and Information Resources 1707 L Street NW, Suite 650 Washington, DC 20036 Web site at [http://www.clir.org](http://www.clir.org) This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (grant number RE-00-13-0097-13) The views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Copyright © 2016 by Council on Library and Information Resources. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Cover illustration: © Stuart Kinlough via Ikon Images Contents About the Authors...................................................... v Acknowledgments .................................................... vii Foreword ........................................................... viii Executive Summary .................................................... 1 Understanding the Background and Context .............................. 7 IMLS as a Leader in Advancing a National Digital Platform .............. 8 Speaking the Same Language to Facilitate Open Data.................... 8 Defining Cyberinfrastructure......................................... 9 Defining Data ...................................................... 9 Technology for Open Data .......................................... 10 Part 1 . Responding to the Mandate ...................................... 11 About the Public Access Plans for Data ............................... 12 Findings .......................................................... 12 Conclusions....................................................... 21 Part 2 . Implementing Digital Curation: Project Interviews ................. 24 Research Design and Methods....................................... 24 Findings .......................................................... 25 Implications ...................................................... 33 Limitations and Future Research..................................... 33 Part 3 . Building Capacity: Curriculum, Competencies, and Careers ......... 35 Perspectives on Education and Training .............................. 36 Study Scope ...................................................... 39 Curation Curriculum Development .................................. 40 Curation Competencies............................................. 44 Curation Job Descriptions .......................................... 49 Conclusion ....................................................... 52 Looking Ahead ....................................................... 55 References ........................................................... 57 Appendix 1. Analysis of Public Access Plans: Research Design and Methods ......................................................... 62 Appendix 2. Links to Federal Department and Agency Public Access Plans Used for This Report ............................................. 63 Appendix 3. Projects on Digital Curation Curriculum and Skills Development Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, 2004–2015 ......... 65 Appendix 4. Competency Categories and Skills Defined for the Four Curriculum Models ............................................... 67 Appendix 5. Job Postings to the American Library Association (ALA) DigiPres Electronic Mailing List, 2013–2015 ............................... 76 About the Authors Suzie Allard is associate dean for research in the College of Communication and Information and professor in the School of Information Sciences at The University of Tenness

FAQs

What mandate does the report address and who is the target community?

The report focuses on how the cultural heritage community can address a federal open data mandate through practical approaches and shared implementation language.

How does the report define key concepts such as cyberinfrastructure and data?

It includes sections that explain cyberinfrastructure and define data to support consistent understanding for open data implementation.

What major areas are covered beyond background and context?

The report organizes work into three parts: responding to the mandate, implementing digital curation through project interviews, and building capacity via curriculum, competencies, and career guidance.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Jake