Nancy McGovern

Nancy McGovern is an expert on digital curation and preservation. She is a leader in the archives profession with a national and international reputation. She was elected to Vice President/President-Elect of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) in 2015. She is SAA’s 72nd president in 2016–2017.

Nancy McGovern is in charge of Digital Preservation at MIT Libraries and the 72nd president of the Society of American Archivists (2016-2017). Considered to be a pioneer of digital preservation, McGovern has focused on digital preservation and practice since 1986, when she became senior staff of the Center for Electronic Records at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration. Prior to her tenure at MIT, McGovern worked as a research assistant professor and digital preservation officer at the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) and Director of Research and Assessment Services and digital preservation officer at Cornell University. In 2003, while working at Cornell, McGovern, with Anne R. Kenney, co-developed the Digital Preservation Management Workshop for digital preservation managers. The workshops have been attended by more than 500 participants representing more than 250 organizations from over 30 countries spanning 5 continents.

Education

• PhD, Archival Studies, University College London, 2009
• MA, History, Northeastern University, 1983, certificate in archives administration
• BA, History, Saint Anselm College, 1982

Honors

• Distinguished Fellow, Society of American Archivists, 2009.
• SAA Preservation Publication Award: Aligning National Approaches to Digital Preservation (ANADP), volume editor, 2013, and Digital Preservation Management, online tutorial, 2004.
• Digital Preservation Pioneer, NDIIPP, 2010.
• Research Fellow, Study of Modern Archives, Bentley Historical Library, 1994.

• "MIT Library Hires New Head of Curation and Preservation Services," Preservation and Conservation Administration News, March 2, 2012, retrieved August 3, 2016 McGovern's responsibilities focused primarily on DP in 2016
• "Nancy McGovern," Society of American Archivists, retrieved August 3, 2016
• "Digital Preservation Management". Section: "About the Workshop". Cornell University and MIT Libraries. Retrieved December 27, 2016.
• "Nancy McGovern, Digital Preservation Pioneer". Library of Congress. Retrieved December 27, 2016.