The University is responding to the challenge of organizing, digitizing and preserving the intellectual output of students and faculty by creating a new top administrative position-director of digital information strategy.
The task of devising this strategy will fall to Paolo Mangiafico, who signed a contract to serve as director of digital information strategy Wednesday. His appointment will be funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation, as will a parallel post at Dartmouth College.
"There has been an explosion of digital assets around the University, and there's also an opportunity to make use of educational assets that have not yet been digitized," Provost Peter Lange said. "We need a broad strategy of how best to use and preserve these assets."
The role will require Mangiafico-who is currently digital projects manager for Duke University Libraries-to meet with a committee appointed by the provost to evaluate how digital information is currently stored on campus, enhance the accessibility of the University's scholastic output, discern which pieces of information should be preserved and sift through legal and ethical issues presented by the new technology.
The position of director of digital information strategy will provide a valuable connection between the library system, the Office of Information Technology and the Office of the Provost, Mangiafico wrote in an e-mail.
Mangiafico will also survey Duke students and faculty to measure how all corners of the University make use of new technologies, and will be charged with keeping abreast of domestic and international trends in information storage.
"This position is intended to help make sure that the right people are talking to each other and working together, and that we all make good decisions about how most effectively to support the work of Duke overall," he said.
Mangiafico noted he has spent 14 years working in the Duke library system, the chief keeper of the University's records during the paper age. That experience gave him a valuable background from which to assess the value of digital information, he said.
"I understand the value of the traditions and culture of libraries as they've developed over centuries, as well as the possibilities that new technologies provide," he said. "And I hope, in this position, to be able to bring both of these together to better serve the needs of Duke and the broader scholarly community."
After taking stock of how faculty are currently storing their data, one of Mangiafico's first projects in the new role may be creating a University-wide repository for scholarly publications, said Deborah Jakubs, University librarian and vice provost for library affairs.
But Lange added that the novel nature of Mangiafico's position makes it difficult to nail down a precise job description.
"This is an area that is pretty uncharted," Lange said. "It's really a strategic role and a role that requires a lot of vision and a lot of discussion."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.