June 16, 2010 -- The Library of Congress Office of Strategic Initiatives is happy to welcome Jimi Jones to its staff. Serving as an IT Specialist (Audio Visual), Jones brings to the position valuable education and experience. Even more, Jones brings a necessary passion for digital preservation.
Having studied film production and cinema studies while attending the University of Utah, Jones became an audio-visual preservation advocate early in his career. "The importance of preserving audiovisual content came naturally to me," he remembers. "I got a lot of pleasure from viewing older content that someone had taken the trouble to keep available, and I just knew that working in this area was important. Audiovisual information has had a profound impact on our culture and it is vital that we keep that content available and accessible."
Interested in archiving and preserving audio-visual material, Jones went on to earn a graduate degree in Library and Information Science from the University of Illinois. Jones has had several jobs in the field, including Project Coordinator for Audiovisual Self-Assessment Program, an audiovisual preservation project; archivist with the Utah Independent Film Archive; and Adjunct Professor at his alma mater, where he continues to teach today. His newest adventure has brought him to the Library, where his passion for audio-visual content and digital preservation finds new purpose and meaning.
"The work here draws on everything I’ve learned," says Jones. "It also gives me the chance to learn about new things that are happening in the federal government and around the world.
Working closely with Carl Fleischhauer, Jones is currently serving as a subject-matter expert and analyst for audiovisual digital content. Working on the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative, Jones is helping develop guidance, standards and best practices to guarantee sustainable digital preservation of important historical content.
Through community engagement efforts, such as Personal Archiving Day at the Library of Congress, he is also raising grassroots awareness about digital preservation. All the while, Jones is enjoying himself. "This is a great time to be working with the Library of Congress and with the federal agencies initiative, because they are at the forefront of making important, potentially global, decisions about audiovisual preservation," he says.
Updated Nov. 12, 2013 to remove image of Jones.
