Innovation and curricula: an archival perspective on education of "digital curators"

The article analyzes the recent developments and changes in the archival education by examining and discussing the international literature, with a specific focus on the educational proposals in the digital environment. The assessment of the state of art concentrates on the present evolution of the archival post-graduate courses in Europe and in North-America and on the contemporary development and implementation of digital curation curricula. The digital curation paradigm is here assessed from the point of view of its conceptual robustness and consistency, with reference to the roles identified, the skills and the basic and specialized knowledge to be included in the educational processes. The main proposals in the sector are briefly described (the goals and the main initiatives of the Digital Curation Centre in UK and the DigCCurr projects as developed by the North Carolina University). The contribution of archival science to the evolution of education in curatorial methodologies and practices is evaluated.