Rebecca Frank

Rebecca Frank (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and holds affiliations with the Einstein Center Digital Future (Berlin) and the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research. Her research examines how risk is socially constructed in digital repository certification processes, focusing on open data, digital preservation, and ethical information management. She teaches graduate courses in digital curation and preservation.

• PhD, University of Michigan School of Information (2018)
• MSI, University of Michigan (2012)
• BA, Organizational Studies, University of Michigan (2010)

Her work addresses social and ethical barriers to digital information preservation, sharing, and reuse through projects like SCoR-TDR (Social Construction of Risk in Trustworthy Digital Repositories) and Citizen-Based Monitoring for Peace & Security (analyzing satellite imagery for conflict verification). Current research with the InfraLab Berlin investigates risk perception in public infrastructure data work.

Recent publications (2024-2025) explore CoreTrustSeal certification, satellite image analysis for citizen monitoring, and qualitative method reporting standards. Her 2024 Journal of Documentation article develops frameworks for repository risk assessment, while 2025 conference papers examine feminist data approaches and collaborative syllabus development.

Supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (US), German Foundation for Peace Research, Einstein Center Digital Future, and Australian Academy of Science, Frank collaborates with international institutions including Princeton University, Berliner Hochschule für Technik, and Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. She organizes workshops on data feminism and digital preservation ethics.