The Summer Educational Institute. Empowering visual information students and professionals since 2004.

SEI is a dedicated institute focused on instructing individuals in the stewardship of visual materials within digital collections. It offers extensive insights and foundational practices related to digital curation and preservation in the context of galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM institutions).

SEI Extends a Heartfelt Thank You to the Kress Foundation, Visual Resources Association, Art Libraries Society of North America for 20 Years of Invaluable Support.

Without their help, over 500 Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museum professionals would not have received the vital training and professional development opportunities that have shaped their careers and advanced the field of visual materials digital stewardship.

SEI 2024 was held online Monday, June 24–Tuesday, July 2, 2024.

This year, in an effort to prevent Zoom fatigue, SEI’s five instruction days were spaced over the course of a week and a half. Thanks to everyone who attended! Check out the full schedule.

  • Copyright & Intellectual Property Rights

  • Birds-eye-view of a desk with people working at laptops.

    Project Management

  • Hands of varying skin tones on top of a wooden surface.

    Ethical Digital Stewardship

  • A person holding a 35mm Kodachrome slide.

    Digitization

  • Interior view of large, multi-story library.

    Information Architecture

  • View looking up of a pair of glass skyscrapers.

    Cultural Heritage Metadata

  • Computer code on a screen.

    Digital Accessibility

  • Seven memory cards on a light purple background.

    Digital Preservation

  • Green symbols and letters on a black background.

    DAMs & Digital Repositories

Upon completion of the Summer Educational Institute, participants will gain the ability to:

  • Develop strategic approaches for digital stewardship concepts such as copyright, accessibility, cultural heritage metadata, etc., tailored specifically for digital collections in galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (GLAM institutions).

  • Apply introductory and ethically sound digital curation and preservation practices to enhance visual material digital collections.

  • Tailor the digital stewardship lifecycle to accommodate the diverse needs of relevant communities and stakeholders.

SEI is ideal for:

  • New GLAM professionals seeking a solid foundation in digital collection curation and preservation.

  • Recent graduates from disciplines focused on cultural heritage, providing them with valuable insights into digital collections.

  • GLAM professionals who require a refresher on digital collection curation and preservation practices.

What Participants Are Saying

 

“I really enjoyed SEI, even more than I had expected. I have used some of the concepts that I learned at my institution already. It was a great experience.”

“SEI is exactly what I needed. I can now speak the language of repositories and suggest projects based on what I learned at SEI. Even when the topics were over my head I hung in with a positive attitude. I know that when I need to learn a technical aspect of VRCs, I can locate the information, SEI gave me resources.”

“Overall, the whole week was quite WONDERFUL!! I learned a lot from the lectures that were helpful to me (digitization and repositories), and the conversations had during meals and breaks were enlightening.”