Helen Tibbo

Alumni Distinguished Professor, UNC School of Information and Library Science
Helen Tibbo photo
919/962-8063
tibbo@ils.unc.edu
Manning Hall
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Faculty Expertise:

Archives and records management, information services for the humanities, electronic information retrieval, reference service

Education:
BA, Bridgewater State College (English)
MLS, Indiana University
MA, University of Maryland (American Studies)
PhD, University of Maryland (Library and Information Science)

Biography:

Dr. Helen R. Tibbo teaches in the areas of archives and records management, digital preservation and access, appraisal, trustworthy repositories, and data curation. She is the Alumni Distinguished Professor at the UNC School of Information and Library Science (SILS) and directs the master's program in Digital Curation and Management. She also developed the Archives and Records Management (ARM) concentration at SILS.

Dr. Tibbo is a Fellow of the Society of American Archivists (SAA) and was SAA President from 2010–2011. She has been Principal Investigator on several Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS)-funded projects that have helped define digital curation best practices, particularly for government and scientific research data.

She led DigCCurr I and II (www.ils.unc.edu/digccurr), which developed an international digital curation curriculum for master’s and doctoral students. She also directed Educating Stewards of Public Information in the 21st Century (ESOPI-21), a partnership with the UNC School of Government to provide students with a master’s degree in library/information science and a master’s degree in public administration, so they are prepared to shape public policy related to digital preservation of government records and data.  

Most recently, she received IMLS funding for “Curating Research Assets and Data using Lifecycle Education: Data Management Education Tools for Librarians, Archivists, & Content Creators" or CRADLE, a project that funded the creation of the Research Data Management and Sharing MOOC

Dr. Tibbo served as general co-chair on the organizing committee for iPRES2015. As the premiere international conference on digital preservation, IPRES brought over 300 key theorists, researchers and, practitioners from 22 countries to Chapel Hill to explore the latest trends, innovations, policies, and practices in the field.

Courses Recently Taught:
756-01W: Data Curation and Management
752: Digital Preservation and Access
755: Archival Appraisal

Awards and Recognition:
Society of American Archivists Council Exemplary Service Award (2020)
Distinguished Alumni Award from the Indiana University-Bloomington (2018)
Library of Congress Digital Pioneer (2011)
Alumni Distinguished Professor (2010)
Society of American Archivists Vice-President/President-Elect (2009)
Society of American Archivists Fellow (2005) [Lifetime achievement honor].

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