writing

Essays & Posts

Posts forthcoming.

Publications

Peer-reviewed articles and contributed book chapters.

2026

1. Individualism is obsolete: collective work in the digital library landscape

   Simon Elichko, Emily Higgs Kopin, and Roberto Vargas

   In Digital Transformation in Academic Libraries for Research and Learning, 2026

   Abs DOI Bib

   This chapter argues that individualism as a professional framework is inadequate for the challenges facing digital libraries, making the case for collective approaches to infrastructure, labor, and institutional accountability.

   @incollection{elichko2026worldscientific,
     author = {Elichko, Simon and Higgs Kopin, Emily and Vargas, Roberto},
     title = {Individualism is obsolete: collective work in the digital library landscape},
     booktitle = {Digital Transformation in Academic Libraries for Research and Learning},
     editor = {Brant, Nicollette and Ramachandran, Hema},
     publisher = {World Scientific},
     year = {2026},
     doi = {10.1142/9789819816316_0005},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.1142/9789819816316_0005},
   }

2025

1. Digital Preservation Expertise and Labour Throughout the Project Lifecycle

   Emily Higgs Kopin and Mikala Narlock

   In The Routledge Companion to Libraries, Archives, and the Digital Humanities, 2025

   Abs DOI Bib

   This chapter examines how digital preservation expertise and labor are distributed across the project lifecycle, arguing that preservation is ongoing work rather than a discrete project outcome.

   @incollection{higgskopin2025routledge,
     author = {Higgs Kopin, Emily and Narlock, Mikala},
     title = {Digital Preservation Expertise and Labour Throughout the Project Lifecycle},
     booktitle = {The Routledge Companion to Libraries, Archives, and the Digital Humanities},
     editor = {Galina Russell, Isabel and Layne-Worthey, Glen},
     publisher = {Routledge},
     year = {2025},
     doi = {10.4324/9781003327738-35},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003327738-35},
   }

2. Building Capacity for Born-Digital Archives Through Accessioning Workflows at the Friends Historical Library

   Emily Higgs Kopin, Jessica Hutchison, and James Truitt

   The American Archivist, 2025

   Abs DOI Bib

   This article describes the development of born-digital accessioning workflows at the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College, offering a model for institutions building born-digital archives capacity with limited resources.

   @article{higgskopin2025americanarchivist,
     author = {Higgs Kopin, Emily and Hutchison, Jessica and Truitt, James},
     title = {Building Capacity for Born-Digital Archives Through Accessioning Workflows at the Friends Historical Library},
     journal = {The American Archivist},
     volume = {88},
     number = {1},
     pages = {40--56},
     year = {2025},
     doi = {10.17723/2327-9702-88.1.40},
     url = {https://doi.org/10.17723/2327-9702-88.1.40},
   }