Drexel University, College of Computing and Informatics

Drexel University will lead efforts to strengthen workforce development and professional practice for librarians and archivists working with a rapidly expanding digital archival record. Archives and library collections serve as a national treasure, preserving documentary evidence of scientific discovery, innovation, and civic life that have shaped the country. At the same time, the expanding scale of digital collections and advances in computational and Artificial Intelligence (AI) methods present both challenges and new opportunities. While many institutions are experimenting with computational approaches, these efforts often remain siloed, and the profession lacks shared frameworks for workforce competencies, metadata practices, and infrastructure readiness. The project will address this need by convening archivists, librarians, and educators in a national forum on computational archival science and metadata practice.