2013 Cunha/Swartzburg Award to Martha Anderson

CHICAGO – The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services’ (ALCTS) Preservation and Reformatting Section Committee for the Hollinger Metal Edge-sponsored George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg Preservation Award has selected Martha Anderson as the 2013 recipient. The award will be presented on Sunday, June 30, at the ALCTS Awards Ceremony during the 2013 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference in Chicago, Illinois.

Anderson retired at the end of 2012 as the managing director of the Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP), having served in this position for five years. She chaired and represented the library on the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) Steering Committee and helped incubate and/or lead many innovative programs championed by the Library's Office of Strategic Initiatives (OSI).

A pioneer in the field of digital preservation, she managed initiatives and programs for a national collaborative network of more than 200 preservation partners, including developing and implementing strategies, goals and activities to accomplish work set forth in the NDIIPP Plan as approved by Congress, including the preparation and execution of a national collection plan, foundation of a stewardship network of national partners, building out of technical tools and services to support the partnerships, sustainability planning, public policy formation for copyright considerations for digital preservation and public outreach to foster public awareness and support for digital preservation. She led and managed five major initiatives, including: strategic investments in digital preservation infrastructure, annual digital preservation partners meeting, establishing and sustaining a digital preservation community of practice, convened meetings on particular genres of emerging digital content and leadership on storage system architecture. She was recognized by her peers for not only being a strong leader, but as a community builder in the field of digital preservation, one of the most significant challenges facing cultural institutions today. She was able to inspire individuals to work together toward a common goal and share ownership and responsibility for this challenge.

Established in 2007, the award honors the memory of George Cunha and Susan Swartzburg, early leaders in cooperative preservation programming and strong advocates for collaboration in the field of preservation. The award acknowledges and supports cooperative preservation projects and/or rewards individuals or groups that foster collaboration for preservation goals.

The Association for Library Collections & Technical Services (ALCTS) is the national association for information providers who work in collections and technical services, such as acquisitions, cataloging, collection development, preservation and continuing resources in digital and print formats.

ALCTS is a division of the American Library Association.