David Ferriero
Encyclopedia
David Sean Ferriero is a librarian
, library administrator, and the 10th Archivist of the United States
. He was Director of the New York Public Library
; and before that, he was the University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke University
. Prior to his Duke position, he worked for 31 years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
library. Ferriero is the first librarian to serve as Archivist of the United States.
, and graduated from Beverly High School.
He earned a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in English Literature from Northeastern University.
His education was interrupted by service in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He served as a Navy hospital corpsman assigned to a Marine unit in Danang, Vietnam, and on a hospital ship, the USS Sanctuary
, in Vietnamese waters. After the war, Ferriero approached his studies differently. Ferriero believes that he was "much more focused at that point."
Following his military service, Ferriero earned an additional Master's Degree in Library and Information Science from Simmons College
.
as Associate General Manager of UNC-TV
in Durham, North Carolina. Before moving to North Carolina, she worked with WGBH-TV
in Boston.
from 1996 through 2004. Ferriero was the first Duke university librarian to address the members of the university's Board of Trustees in person. He was actively involved in the evolution of North Carolina's Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN).
(NYPL
) from 2004. In 2007 his role expanded with additional responsibilities as director of New York Public Library's (NYPL) Branch Libraries. He was responsible for the management and operations of NYPL's Research Libraries since 2005 and the Branch Libraries since 2007. He presided over a major restructuring, which was accompanied by elimination of some positions and the creation of new ones. Ferriero argued that transformation was imperative as NYPL adapted to the profound cultural and societal developments affecting the future of libraries. His initiatives at NYPL engaged the nascent disciplines of digital asset management.
Ferriero prioritized staff recruitment, retention, training, development, and compensation; and he made it a point to try to visit the main reading room every day, assessing the varied needs of NYPL patrons.
(Online Computer Library Center), which with its member libraries co-operatively produces and maintains WorldCat
—the OCLC Online Union Catalog
. During Ferriero's tenure, the library stopped using the unique "Billings classification system" for its reference books in the Rose Reading Room (main reading room) (the classification system is named for John Shaw Billings
, the former NYPL librarian who devised and introduced it in the nineteenth century).
during Ferriero's tenure. Google
and major international libraries have agreed to making collections of public domain books available for scanning to be offered to the public online, without charge.
.
An early October confirmation hearing was scheduled by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. According to the subcommittee chairman, Senator Thomas Carper of Delaware, Ferriero's quick confirmation by the Senate was never in doubt.
Ferriero used the public occasion to express his view that the National Archives is at a "defining moment with regard to our existing electronic records, social media communications, and emerging technologies being used throughout government offices." He also noted "issues of collection security, the future of the Presidential Library system, backlogs in processing, staff job satisfaction, stakeholder relationships, preservation and storage needs."
He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 6, 2009; and he was sworn in to his new office on November 13, 2009.
President Obama appointed Ferriero to simultaneously head the new National Declassification Center, which "has been given four years to go through 400 million pages of federal documents that remain top secret. They date to World War I
."
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
, library administrator, and the 10th Archivist of the United States
Archivist of the United States
The Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. The first Archivist, R.D.W. Connor, began serving in 1934, when the National Archives was established as an independent federal agency by Congress...
. He was Director of the New York Public Library
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
; and before that, he was the University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke University
Duke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
. Prior to his Duke position, he worked for 31 years at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
library. Ferriero is the first librarian to serve as Archivist of the United States.
Education and Personal Life
Ferriero grew up in Beverly, MassachusettsBeverly, Massachusetts
Beverly is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 39,343 on , which differs by no more than several hundred from the 39,862 obtained in the 2000 census. A resort, residential and manufacturing community on the North Shore, Beverly includes Beverly Farms and Prides...
, and graduated from Beverly High School.
He earned a Bachelor's degree and a Master's degree in English Literature from Northeastern University.
His education was interrupted by service in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War. He served as a Navy hospital corpsman assigned to a Marine unit in Danang, Vietnam, and on a hospital ship, the USS Sanctuary
USS Sanctuary (AH-17)
USS Sanctuary is a that served in the U.S. Navy in World War II and the Vietnam War. , she is still afloat with her final fate yet to be determined....
, in Vietnamese waters. After the war, Ferriero approached his studies differently. Ferriero believes that he was "much more focused at that point."
Following his military service, Ferriero earned an additional Master's Degree in Library and Information Science from Simmons College
Simmons College (Massachusetts)
Simmons College, established in 1899, is a private women's undergraduate college and private co-educational graduate school in Boston, Massachusetts.-History:Simmons was founded in 1899 with a bequest by John Simmons a wealthy clothing manufacturer in Boston...
.
Marriage and family
Ferriero married Gail Zimmermann, the daughter of MIT Professor Emeritus Henry Zimmermann. She has developed an independent career in broadcastingBroadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
as Associate General Manager of UNC-TV
UNC-TV
University of North Carolina Television, known on-air as UNC-TV, is a public television network in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is operated by the University of North Carolina, with studios located at the UNC Center for Public Television at Research Triangle Park...
in Durham, North Carolina. Before moving to North Carolina, she worked with WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV
WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming...
in Boston.
MIT Libraries
Ferriero was Associate Director of Public Services at MIT Libraries. His MIT library career spanned 31 years.Duke University Library
Ferriero was the Rita DiGiallonardo Holloway University Librarian and Vice Provost for Library Affairs at Duke UniversityDuke University
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B...
from 1996 through 2004. Ferriero was the first Duke university librarian to address the members of the university's Board of Trustees in person. He was actively involved in the evolution of North Carolina's Triangle Research Libraries Network (TRLN).
New York Public Library
Ferriero was the Andrew W. Mellon Director and Chief Executive of the Research Libraries at the New York Public LibraryNew York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
(NYPL
New York Public Library
The New York Public Library is the largest public library in North America and is one of the United States' most significant research libraries...
) from 2004. In 2007 his role expanded with additional responsibilities as director of New York Public Library's (NYPL) Branch Libraries. He was responsible for the management and operations of NYPL's Research Libraries since 2005 and the Branch Libraries since 2007. He presided over a major restructuring, which was accompanied by elimination of some positions and the creation of new ones. Ferriero argued that transformation was imperative as NYPL adapted to the profound cultural and societal developments affecting the future of libraries. His initiatives at NYPL engaged the nascent disciplines of digital asset management.
Ferriero prioritized staff recruitment, retention, training, development, and compensation; and he made it a point to try to visit the main reading room every day, assessing the varied needs of NYPL patrons.
Cataloging
Ferriero was the NYPL's Partner Representative in OCLCOCLC
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Inc. is "a nonprofit, membership, computer library service and research organization dedicated to the public purposes of furthering access to the world’s information and reducing information costs"...
(Online Computer Library Center), which with its member libraries co-operatively produces and maintains WorldCat
WorldCat
WorldCat is a union catalog which itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories which participate in the Online Computer Library Center global cooperative...
—the OCLC Online Union Catalog
Union catalog
A union catalog is a combined library catalog describing the collections of a number of libraries. Union catalogs have been created in a range of media, including book format, microform, cards and more recently, networked electronic databases...
. During Ferriero's tenure, the library stopped using the unique "Billings classification system" for its reference books in the Rose Reading Room (main reading room) (the classification system is named for John Shaw Billings
John Shaw Billings
John Shaw Billings was an American librarian and surgeon best known as the modernizer of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office of the Army and as the first director of the New York Public Library.-Biography:...
, the former NYPL librarian who devised and introduced it in the nineteenth century).
Google digitization partnership
The NYPL joined the Google Books Library ProjectGoogle Books Library Project
The Google Books Library Project is an effort by Google to scan and make searchable the collections of several major research libraries. The project, along with Google's Partner Program, comprise Google Books . Along with bibliographic information, snippets of text from a book are often viewable...
during Ferriero's tenure. Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
and major international libraries have agreed to making collections of public domain books available for scanning to be offered to the public online, without charge.
National Archives and Records Administration
On July 28, 2009, President Obama nominated him to be 10th Archivist of the United StatesArchivist of the United States
The Archivist of the United States is the chief official overseeing the operation of the National Archives and Records Administration. The first Archivist, R.D.W. Connor, began serving in 1934, when the National Archives was established as an independent federal agency by Congress...
.
An early October confirmation hearing was scheduled by a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. According to the subcommittee chairman, Senator Thomas Carper of Delaware, Ferriero's quick confirmation by the Senate was never in doubt.
Ferriero used the public occasion to express his view that the National Archives is at a "defining moment with regard to our existing electronic records, social media communications, and emerging technologies being used throughout government offices." He also noted "issues of collection security, the future of the Presidential Library system, backlogs in processing, staff job satisfaction, stakeholder relationships, preservation and storage needs."
He was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 6, 2009; and he was sworn in to his new office on November 13, 2009.
President Obama appointed Ferriero to simultaneously head the new National Declassification Center, which "has been given four years to go through 400 million pages of federal documents that remain top secret. They date to World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
."
Affiliations
- PLUS Coalition ( Picture Licensing Universal System), Board of Directors.
- Association of Research LibrariesAssociation of Research LibrariesThe Association of Research Libraries is an organization of the leading research libraries in North America. As of October 2006, it comprises 123 libraries at comprehensive, research-intensive institutions in the US and Canada that share similar missions, aspirations, and achievements...
(ARL). - Council on Library and Information Resources/Association of American PublishersAssociation of American PublishersThe Association of American Publishers is the national trade association of the American book publishing industry. AAP has more than 300 members, including most of the major commercial publishers in the United States, as well as smaller and non-profit publishers, university presses and scholarly...
, Joint Working Group on Scholarly Communication. - Early English Books Online (EEBO), editorial advisory board.
- Center for Research Libraries.
- Research Libraries GroupResearch Libraries GroupThe Research Libraries Group was a U.S.-based library consortium which developed the Eureka interlibrary search engine, the RedLightGreen database of bibliographic descriptions and ArchiveGrid, a database containing descriptions of archival collections...
. - Research Collections and Preservation Consortium (ReCAP), Board of Directors
External links
- AOTUS: Collector in Chief, David Ferriero's Blog as Archivist of the United States
- Biography of David Ferriero, by the National Archives and Records AdministrationNational Archives and Records AdministrationThe National Archives and Records Administration is an independent agency of the United States government charged with preserving and documenting government and historical records and with increasing public access to those documents, which comprise the National Archives...
- State of the Archives address, by David S. Ferriero
- "Meet the new Archivist of the United States", video by The Washington PostThe Washington PostThe Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
- Victim Impact Statement, re: theft of NYPL maps, 2006.