Karen F. Gracy, Ph.D.

Karen F. Gracy, Ph.D., has developed and delivered coursework in digital preservation and curation, moving image archiving, preservation and conservation of cultural heritage materials, and archival description and representation. Gracy is a strong supporter of student-led research both inside and outside the classroom. One of the many courses she has helped design and teach is the core MLIS course, LIS 60050 Research & Assessment for LIS. She has also served on multiple committees for numerous Ph.D. and MLIS theses, has supported about 15 graduate students’ research projects and papers, and has supervised around 200 MLIS internships. Gracy completed her undergraduate degree in English and French (B.A.) at the University of California, Berkeley, and holds an M.A. in critical studies of film and television, as well as an M.L.I.S. and Ph.D. in library and information science from UCLA. She is the author of Film Preservation: Competing Definitions of Value, Use, and Practice (Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 2007).

*The School of Information faculty are superstars in the field. Therefore, it is impossible to list all of the great work they do on one page. Listed below is a small selection of Dr. Gracy’s recent work. Further information can be viewed in Dr. Gracy’s CV (found below), on her Google Scholar page, or on ResearchGate.

Teaching/Advising

Academic Programs
Library & Information Science

Cultural Heritage Informatics (Archival Studies, Special Collections) Digital HumanitiesData/Information/Technology (Digital Preservation)  Information Organization 

Research Specialties

Data Curation Research Methods Linked DataMetadata

 Archival Arrangement & Description

Selected Publications

Gracy, K. F. (2018). Holistic competency development and the significance of learning domains in audiovisual archiving education. Education for Information, 34(1), 55-77. https://doi.org/10.3233/EFI-189006

Gracy, K. F. (2018). Enriching and enhancing moving images with linked data: An exploration in the alignment of metadata models. Journal of Documentation, 74(2), 354-371. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-07-2017-0106

Gracy, K. F. (ed.). (2017). Emerging trends in archival science. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN: 978-1442275140

Gracy, K. F. (2017). See the movie, read the book! Cleveland Public Library’s Bookmark Program, 1923-1972. Library and Information Science History, 33(4), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/17583489.2017.1372924

Gracy, K. F. (2015). Archival description and linked data: A preliminary study of opportunities and implementation challenges. Archival Science, 15, 239-254. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10502-014-9216-2

Editorial Works

Zeng. M.L., Sula, C. A., Gracy, K. F., et al. Digital Humanities (DH). A special issue of the Journal of Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), Volumen 73, Issue 2, February 2022. (TOC)

Grants

Principal Investigator on “Mobile Digitization for Community Memory Projects in Northeast Ohio,” LSTA Open Grant fund (State Library of Ohio), $4,999, awarded March 2019.

Co-Investigator on “Utilizing Event-Centered Description and Linked Data to Increase Access to Diverse Historical Materials: The May 4 Events as Case Study” (with Marcia Lei Zeng, Kent State), CCI Research and Creative Activity Fund, $6,500, awarded 2017.

Awards/Achievements

Best Edited Collection of 2017, the Society for Cinema and Media Studies. Gracy, K. F. “Midway Between Secular and Sacred: Consecrating the Home Movie as Cultural Heritage Object.” In M. McNamara & A. Frieman (eds.), Amateur Movie Making Aesthetics of the Everyday in New England Film, 1915-1960, 105-124. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2017. Invited chapter (peer reviewed). 

Society of American Archivists’ Preservation Publication Award (2016). Gracy, K. F. “Preservation in a Time of Transition: Redefining Stewardship of Time-Based Media in the Digital Age.”  In M. V. Cloonan (ed.), Preserving Our Heritage: Perspectives from Antiquity to the Digital Age,  261-264. New York: Neal-Schuman, 2015. [Invited chapter] 

Professional Service

• Editor-in-Chief of Preservation, Digital Technology & Culture (2018 - 2021)
• Former Editor of The Moving Image: Journal of the Association of Moving Image Archivists (2006 - 2008)
• Referee for multiple international scholarly journals and editorial board member of The American Archivist (2013 - 2017) and The Moving Image (2008 - Present) 
• Served as Co-Host and Co-Chair of Program Committee for the Archival Education and Research Institute, Kent State University (2016)
• Book Proposal Reviewer for Rowman and Littlefield (2017 - 2018)

Affiliations

• Association of Moving Image Archivists, Member (1994 - Present), Continuing Education Advisory Task Force (2018 - 2020)
• Society of American Archivists, Member (2000 - Present), Member-at-Large of Preservation Section (2019 - 2021), Preservation Publication Award Subcommittee of the Awards Committee (2018 - 2021, Chair 2020 - 2021)