Katherine Skinner

Dr. Katherine Skinner is a Lecturer at the School of Information, San José State University, and the Executive Director of the Educopia Institute, a non-profit dedicated to advancing digital scholarship and preservation through inter-institutional collaboration. She is the founding director of the MetaArchive Cooperative and leads the Library Publishing Coalition project.

• PhD in American Studies, Emory University (2005)
• BA in Psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1996)

Her research centers on digital preservation, digital libraries, academic libraries, and information systems, with a strong focus on collaborative, community-driven models. She explores funding sustainability, digital curation, and the preservation of critical digital materials such as electronic theses and newspapers.

Her recent publications reflect a consistent focus on distributed digital preservation, cooperative governance, and the evolving roles of libraries in digital scholarship. Themes include sustainability, networked infrastructure, community engagement, and policy alignment across institutions.

• Society of American Archivists' 2013 Preservation Publication Award for Aligning National Approaches to Digital Preservation

Dr. Skinner has led major research initiatives funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS). She regularly teaches courses in digital preservation and advises on digital scholarship programs. She has co-edited three books and authored numerous reports and articles. She also directs collaborative projects involving over 50 academic libraries, emphasizing mentorship through leadership and professional development.

She leads the MetaArchive Cooperative and the Library Publishing Coalition, both of which function as collaborative networks advancing digital preservation and scholarly communication. These initiatives foster innovation through shared infrastructure and community governance.