The Digital Public Library of America, Me, and You

Twenty years ago Roy Rosenzweig imagined a compelling mission for a new institution: “To use digital media and computer technology to democratize history—to incorporate multiple voices, reach diverse audiences, and encourage popular participation in presenting and preserving the past.” I’ve been incredibly lucky to be a part of that mission for over twelve years, at what became the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, with last five and a half years as director.

Today I am announcing that I will be leaving the center, and my professorship at George Mason University, the home of RRCHNM, but I am not leaving Roy’s powerful vision behind. Instead, I will be extending his vision—one now shared by so many—on a new national initiative, the Digital Public Library of America. I will be the founding executive director of the DPLA.

The DPLA, which you will be hearing much more about in the coming months, will be connecting the riches of America’s libraries, archives, and museums so that the public can access all of those collections in one place; providing a platform, with an API, for others to build creative and transformative applications upon; and advocating strongly for a public option for reading and research in the twenty-first century. The DPLA will in no way replace the thousands of public libraries that are at the heart of so many communities across this country, but instead will extend their commitment to the public sphere, and provide them with an extraordinary digital attic and the technical infrastructure and services to deliver local cultural heritage materials everywhere in the nation and the world. DPLA_logo The DPLA has been in the planning stages for the last few years, but is about to spin out of Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society and move from vision to reality. It will officially launch, as an independent nonprofit, on April 18 at the Boston Public Library. I will move to Boston with my family this summer to lead the organization, which will be based there. It is such a great honor to have this opportunity.

Until then I will be transitioning from my role as director of RRCHNM, and my academic life at Mason. Everything at the center will be in great hands, of course; as anyone who visits the center immediately grasps, it is a highly collaborative and nonhierarchical place with an amazing staff and an especially experienced and innovative senior staff. They will continue to shape “the future the past,” as Roy liked to put it. I will miss my good friends at the center, but I still expect to work closely with them, since so many critical software initiatives, educational projects, and digital collections are based at RRCHNM. A search for a new director will begin shortly. I will also greatly miss my colleagues in Mason’s wonderful Department of History and Art History.

At the same time, I look forward to collaborating with new friends, both in the Boston office of the DPLA and across the United States. The DPLA is a unique, special idea—you don’t get to build a massive new library every day. It is apt that the DPLA will launch at the Boston Public Library’s McKim Building, with those potent words carved into stone above its entrance: “Free to all.” The architect Charles Follen McKim rightly called it “a palace for the people,” where anyone could enter to learn, create, and be entertained by the wonders of books and other forms of human expression.

We now have the chance to build something like this for the twenty-first century—a rare, joyous possibility in our too-often cynical age. I hope you will join me in this effort, with your ideas, your contributions, your energy, and your public spirit.

Let’s build the Digital Public Library of America together.

Comments

Candy Schwartz says:

So excited that someone with a reputation for cross-disciplinary collaboration, a love and understanding of libraries/archives/museums, a large social media presence, and experience in teaching and learning is taking this on. Plus you bought me a beer at THATCamp CNHM, so you must be a good guy.

Doug Seefeldt says:

Congratulations Dan! Let me know how I can help. Forward in all directions!

Jessamyn west says:

Mazel tov. Great news for you and DPLA.

Meredith McGill says:

Many congrats, Dan — this is wonderful news. Can’t wait to see how it all comes together!

Matthew Jockers says:

Bravo Dan! I look forward to lots of great news ahead!

[…] History and New Media to accept this post, and he writes a heartfelt explanation of this move on his blog.  He describes the DPLA as not replacing traditional public libraries but instead as an […]

[…] worried that the DPLA may make local public libraries redundant.  On his blog, Dan placed a post today announcing his move to DPLA.  He took some time to explain his sense of how DPLA will interact […]

Ed Summers says:

Congratulations Dan! I’m as guilty as anyone for that cynicism you mention. Creating the space, tools, data, and above all shared expertise to help libraries, archives and museums work with the grain of the Web instead of against it is a major and subtly complex undertaking … but I can’t think of anyone better suited for the job. I want my cynicism to be proven wrong!

[…] Cohen will be taking over the Digital Public Library of America in the coming months and I am very excited about the […]

Rikk Mulligan says:

WoW. Congratulations and good luck. Given your success in growing CHNM and ability to ride the wave, this marks a great start for the DPLA.

PhDeviate says:

Congratulations on the new position! And welcome to Boston (I write from Shanghai, but it’s still where my bed is!). I’m so excited to see Boston grow into a hub for digital new frontiers!

Cherine Munkholt says:

Having marvelled at what you, Roy R., and the others at CHNM have achieved over the years in the field of digital historiography, for want of a better word, I can only say – wow!
Wish you all the best in your new job and look forward to reading about more digital exploits in the coming years!

[…] durchgetwittert und entsprechend verbloggt worden – vor allem und besonders durch Dan Cohen selbst. Was dieser Wechsel in der Leitungsposition für die zukünftige Ausrichtung des CHNM bedeutet, mit […]

[…] The Digital Public Library of America, Me, and You | Dan Cohen's Digital Humanities Blog […]

Congratulations and good luck !

Aden Nichols says:

Kudos! The project could not be in better hands. We’re living in exciting times!

[…] J. Cohen, the DPLA’s new executive director, ideally can agree with the above, at least in time, if he does not already. For now, he sees the […]

[…] another single-topic Digital Campus, we react to the news that Dan is headed to the Digital Public Library of America as its Executive Director (no tears, no tears) by forcing him to tell us all about it. Special […]

[…] another single-topic Digital Campus, we react to the news that Dan is headed to the Digital Public Library of America as its Executive Director (no tears, no tears) by forcing him to tell usall about it. Special […]

[…] I’ll take this opportunity to note that my friend and colleague Dan Cohen has been tapped to take the helm as the inaugural executive director of the DPLA, so the program’s in very […]

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[…] have noticed, I haven't posted to this blog for over a year. I've been extraordinarily busy with my new job. But I'm going to make a small effort to reinvigorate this space, adding my thoughts on evolving […]

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