DigIn: A Hands-on Approach to a Digital Curation Curriculum for Professional Development

The University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science (SIRLS) created its graduate certificate program in Digital Information Management ("Digln") in 2006 with initial funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The curriculum, now also offered to master's students, balances applied technology with a firm grounding in interdisciplinary management and policy issues designed to support a wide range of careers. Additional funding was secured in 2008 to develop a digital laboratory environment capable of providing hands-on learning to face-to-face and virtual students and to evaluate empirically the impact of hands-on and case-based learning on attitudes and career intentions. The first half of a three-year data collection and analysis effort provides initial support for the hands-on approach and a positive impact on attitudes about technology and career aspirations. We discuss results to date, our approaches to hands-on curriculum development, and the technical infrastructure supporting it.