History and Mission
The core teaching and research missions of Harvard University are increasingly dependent upon digital content. Digital materials are inherently fragile and dependent for their long-range viability on technologies that change continuously. One of the key challenges of the twenty-first century is how to preserve the usefulness of this digital content for future generations of scholars.
In response to these challenges, Harvard Library developed the Digital Repository Service (DRS) in 1999. In 2008, a more formal digital preservation program was established, building on years of digital preservation projects and initiatives conducted at Harvard University. As of 2018, Digital Preservation Services (DPS) was launched as a formal unit within Harvard Library Preservation Services (HLPS).
DPS Team
Stephen Abrams (he/his)
Head of Digital Preservation
Stephen Abrams is Head of Digital Preservation Services at the Harvard Library, with responsibility for policy, strategy, and innovation regarding long-term stewardship of Harvard’s rich digital collections. His research interests are in cost and business models for sustainable digital library services, new modes of post-custodial stewardship, and metrics for evaluating digital preservation efficacy. Dr. Abrams was previously Associate Director of the UC Curation Center at the California Digital Library. He holds a BA in Mathematics from Boston University, an ALM in History of Art and Architecture from Harvard University, and a PhD in Information Science from Queensland University of Technology.
Julianna Barrera-Gomez (she/hers)
Digital Preservation Analyst
julianna_barrera-gomez@harvard.edu
Julianna Barrera-Gomez works with the Digital Preservation team within the Preservation Services unit of Harvard Library, providing shared digital preservation services to all curatorial units throughout Harvard. Prior to her arrival, she worked in many capacities and roles in libraries, including: her first public services student job at the Gerstenzang Science Library at Brandeis University; working in technical services at the Ann Arbor District Library; learning from mentors about the intricacies of digitization and digital preservation at the Bentley Historical Library at the University of Michigan; interning with the Electronic Record Program leads at the Smithsonian Institution Archives; engaging in research at OCLC; and pushing through various archives and digital preservation milestones to build a digital stewardship program at the University of Texas at San Antonio. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Brandeis University; an M.A. in Anthropology from University of California, Riverside; and an M.S. in Information from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Service Portfolio
Digital Preservation at Harvard Library supports university-wide libraries, archives, museums and reformatting units. Learn more about the Digital Preservation Services Portfolio.