Donald Force

Associate Professor, School of Information Studies

Education

PhD, School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, 2013, University of British Columbia
MLS (Archives Concentration), 2007, Indiana University
MIS, 2007, Indiana University
MA, History, 2004, Southern Illinois University Carbondale
BA, English, 2000, Millersville University

Bio

Donald Force is Associate Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Information Studies (SOIS), where he teaches courses in the archival studies program. He received his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. His areas of research involve digital archival collections, archival science pedagogy, the history of recordkeeping practices, and legal issues associated with records management practices in North America.

Courses Taught

INFOST 501: Foundations of Library and Information Science
INFOST 650: Introduction to Modern Archives Administration
INFOST 655: Information and Records Management
INFOST 750: Arrangement & Description in Archives
INFOST 752: Archival Outreach: Programs and Services
INFOST 753: Preserving Information Media
INFOST 855: Advanced Appraisal

Sample Publications

Latham, Joyce C. and Donald Force. (2020). “Who will they think we were?” Public libraries and records retention practices in six Midwestern states. Public Library Quarterly, 39(3), 246-264.

Edward, Benoit III and Donald Force. (2019). One size does not fit all: Graduate archival education in the 21st century. The American Archivist, 81(2), 24-52.

Force, Donald C. (2017). A profession in peril: The future of RIM in North America. Information Management Journal, 51(1), 21-27.

Force, Donald C. (2016). Building a trustworthy system: Assigning retention and disposal data. In Philip Bantin (Ed.), Trustworthy systems for digital objects: Theory and practice, 199-202. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.

Teaching Specialization & Interests

Records and information management; Archives; Digital archival collections

Research Interests by Topic

Digital archival collections; Digital libraries; Archival science pedagogy, History of information management practices; Legal issues associated with recordkeeping practices