Porter Olsen Olsen

Porter Olsen Olsen is a Lecturer in the Department of English at the University of Maryland's College of Arts and Humanities. With educational backgrounds in English Literature (B.S., Utah Valley State College) and English and Rhetoric (M.A., University of Utah), Olsen specializes in digital curation, forensic approaches to archival practice, and born-digital preservation. His research examines the intersection of technology and cultural heritage, particularly focusing on legacy media recovery, digital forensics workflows, and the theoretical implications of technologies like write-blockers in archival contexts.

Olsen's work emphasizes the preservation of digital artifacts through both practical tool development (such as BitCurator workshops) and critical analysis of archival silences in digital environments. He has conducted extensive workshops at institutions globally, including Harvard, the British Library, and the Smithsonian, building capacity for digital preservation methodologies.