How do we assess danger? What are the risks we’re willing to take? 

For more than a decade, University of Michigan School of Information assistant professor Rebecca Frank has been asking these questions. 

Fascinated with libraries, information preservation and the long term management of critical data, Frank’s research assesses risks organizations face in managing digital repositories. 

“I’m interested in questions about how we keep digital information accessible and usable in the long term,” she says. “Are we good at understanding threats to our information? Can we assess risk and what the risks are to your collections, to your organization?”

Frank’s work is primarily centered on helping organizations keep tally of the myriad ways their digital repositories of information are in danger and helping them identify solutions. For example, she looks at the health of the organization’s servers, the staffing required to ensure maintenance of data, and building security for libraries with special collections and artifacts. 

A Michigan native, Frank earned her master’s degree and PhD at UMSI before moving to Berlin, Germany to work as a Juniorprofessor of Information Management at the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin School of Library and Information Science. 

After returning to the United States, Frank joined the University of Tennessee’s faculty before coming back to UMSI as an assistant professor. 

“I’m really happy to be back in Ann Arbor,” she says. “I loved Berlin and Tennessee, but this is home and it’s great to be part of a large faculty with so many colleagues who are doing innovative work in digital curation and preservation.” 

At UMSI, Frank will be teaching courses on digital curation and data stewardship. She most enjoys interacting with students and introducing them to new concepts. 

“One of the things I like most about teaching and find the most rewarding is the space that we create together in the classroom,” she says. “I love teaching undergraduate students, especially, because it’s always fun to be the person to introduce students to the big questions in our field.” 

Outside of her teaching and research, Frank enjoys spending time with her dog Mabel and discovering new parks to explore with her. 

“She’s the most energetic dog I’ve ever seen,” Frank says. “We’ve had her for about a year and she’s really a force to be reckoned with.” 

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Learn more about Rebecca Frank’s research and interests by visiting her UMSI faculty profile and personal website.