NDSA Coordinating Committee (CC) is pleased to announce that our new members who will work with us for the 2026-2029 term are:

  • John Dewees
  • Rebecca Frank
  • Danielle Taylor

Our New Members

John Dewees served as one of the co-chairs for the 2025 NDSA Digital Preservation conference. He has seen this experience as an opportunity to see how many dedicated and generous individuals work to keep NDSA moving forward. He decided to run as a “first time CC member to help act with care to steward the organization and provide support to the folks who put so much work into keeping things going.” John has worked in the LAM space for 20 years, specifically working in digital preservation focused areas for the past 8. He has always sought to be active within the professional service arenas that were available and at whatever level they work- the local, state, or national level. John hopes his action-oriented approach to service work, strong organizational and communication skills, and sense of care for our increasingly fragile cultural memory community will be a boon to the NDSA Coordinating Committee. More information about John can be found at: https://johndewees.com/

Rebecca Frank is an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, affiliated with ICPSR and the Einstein Center Digital Future in Berlin, Germany. Her experiences across academic institutions in the US and Germany have given her skills for building and sustaining collaborative communities that span borders and institutions. Rebecca has had firsthand experiences where knowledge exchange and shared expertise have advanced both theory and practice in digital stewardship. Rebecca’s research on risk, trust, and standards has helped her recognize the critical importance of identifying and addressing common challenges in promoting best practices and building capacity for digital preservation. She has worked with individuals and organizations from different cultural contexts. These opportunities have taught her to listen carefully to diverse stakeholder groups. Rebecca is passionate about creating opportunities for people to develop skills and advance their careers in digital stewardship and incorporates this passion into her work as an educator. She sees the NDSA as a strong and vital voice for the preservation and stewardship of digital information in the midst of current challenges. She looks forward to contributing to that mission. More information about Rebecca can be found at: https://www.si.umich.edu/people/rebecca-frank and https://rebeccadfrank.com/

Danielle Taylor is the Digital Preservation Librarian at Indiana University Libraries. She is responsible for assessing and meeting the digital preservation needs of various library departments. She plays a lead role in establishing a cohesive digital preservation program and is manager of the Born-Digital Preservation Lab. Prior to joining IU Libraries in the Digital Collections Services department, she was the Digital Initiatives & Preservation Archivist at the Filson Historical Society (Louisville, KY), Preservation Specialist with the Northeast Document Conservation Center, Project Director for the Digital POWRR Project, and Curator of Manuscripts at the Regional History Center & University Archives at Northern Illinois University. She holds a BA in history from Saint Mary’s College (IN) and an MA-LIS from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Some Key Takeaways

The interest and enthusiasm shown throughout this election was heartening. With eight strong candidates on the ballot, it was a tight race until the very last day. Throughout the voting period, different candidates were tied or as many as four candidates sat within one vote of each other. Even at the end, our selected members included a tie. The level of participation from our institutional members during this election was wonderful and set the highest number of votes currently documented for a CC Members election.

The Coordinating Committee wants to thank all candidates who stood on the ballot this year. We are grateful for your interest in the work and evolution of the NDSA. We look forward to working with you via other NDSA opportunities and encourage you to consider running again in our next Members election.

The CC also wants to thank our institutional members for their time and attention in this process. We sincerely appreciate your interest in and support of the work of the Coordinating Committee and the NDSA. We encourage you all to take advantage of more opportunities to work with us and connect with others in the digital preservation community. Getting involved is as easy as joining the NDSA Slack Workspace or one of our groups.

We look forward to working with you!