The Rise of Digital Curation and Cyberinfrastructure: From Experimentation to Implementation, and Maybe Integration

My intention in this scan of the last decade and a half of the digital environment is to show how its development has influenced the present and to make explicit the connection between today’s cyberinfrastructure and the principles and practices of digital curation. Both depend on an interconnected network of trustworthy repositories, well-curated data, and a diverse body of experts who contribute to the preservation and discoverability of digital content with long-term value. The challenge is ongoing and is too complex to be limited to one domain. Economies of scale and international cooperation are necessary to preserve the human record in the digital age. With continued support and investment in both distributed technical infrastructure and diversified human expertise, the benefits of cyberinfrastructure will extend broadly to all areas of research and discovery, to the preservation and dissemination of knowledge, and to the quality of life in the digital age.

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