Introduction

This special issue of PDT&C, features papers on preservation from the 2016 Archival Education and Research Institute (AERI) Conference which was held at Kent State University, in Kent, Ohio, July 8–12, 2016. The guest editors are Leisa Gibbons and Karen Gracy, professors at Kent State who organized the conference. AERI is an international research forum that brings together incoming and continuing doctoral students, recent doctoral graduates, and faculty. The report by Kent State University student Eileen Horansky imparts the flavor of the conferences themselves. Her piece complements an article by Sarah A. Buchanan, who wrote about the role of AERI in fostering research in “AERI as a Catalyst for Archival Doctoral Education” (PDTC 45.1 (2016): 32–8).

The articles in this issue reflect a variety of perspectives in archives and preservation research—including complex social and political dimensions of preserving archives for an ever expanding community of diverse records creators and users. Professors Gibbons and Gracy discuss the articles in their introduction to this issue. I am pleased to publish new voices in the field, and to turn the editorial reigns over to Lisa and Karen. My deep thanks go to them for making this issue possible.