Sloan Foundation Provides Funding for Robot Archive

The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded $150,000 to the Carnegie Mellon University Libraries to fund the research into the creation of the Robot Archive , a multiphase, multiyear program to create the preeminent archive dedicated to the preservation and curation of the history of robotics. In partnership with CMU's School of Computer Science , cross-campus partners, and a multidisciplinary team of archivists and information professionals, the Libraries will investigate the research ecosystem of robotics and create a model for preserving this complex, dynamic field of scientific inquiry. Brian Mathews , associate dean for innovation, preservation and access is principal investigator and Katherine Barbera , an archivist and oral historian, is co-principal investigator for the award. The Sloan Foundation award will support the first year of this effort, allowing the Libraries to create key positions and lay essential groundwork for the archive and a future robotics collection. This will allow archivists to provide public access to material and objects from the history of robotics, much of it for the first time. The program has received additional funds from CMU donors. "Archivists make crucial decisions about what to keep and what to discard, ultimately deciding what information is incorporated into the historical record and public knowledge," said Barbera.