His research and teaching focus is on archival science, the digitization and preservation of cultural heritage resources, and the ethics of new information technologies. His funded research projects at Michigan include developing a model of expert user interaction with large collections of digitized photographs, measuring the quality of large scale digitization as represented in the HathiTrust Digital Library, and understanding the complexities of providing digital access to collections of original live audio recordings, including the Leo Sarkisian Music Time in Africa Archive and the David Siglin Collection of live recordings from The Ark in Ann Arbor.
I work with large collections of music resources to foster online access and use. One collection consists of recordings over 40 years of live performances at The Ark in Ann Arbor, one of the country's longest continuously operating folk clubs. My current collaboration with these recordings involves applying data science methods to mine the "talk" portions of recorded performances to help categorize the songs performed and identify potential copyright issues. A second project involves building a digital repository of African music, often recorded live in the field, to support research on post-colonial African cultural heritage.
I am an historian and archivist by training and initial professional experience. I ended up on the faculty of the University of Michigan because the most interesing and important questions in history and archival science are fundamental research problems requiring the application of new and emerging digital tools. I am where I want to be.
Data science facilitates inqury at scale on information resources that are not eye-readable and not as comprehensible without machine processing.
I have seen Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls live in concert 23 times on two continents and in at least eight US states.