May 07, 2025 – The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) is pleased to announce the appointment of Sarah Lake as its new Visiting Program Officer (VPO) for Digital Preservation.
Sarah Lake is the Digital Preservation Librarian at Concordia University Library. Since 2020, she has led the implementation and expansion of Concordia’s digital preservation infrastructure, including the deployment of an on-premises Archivematica instance, the development of institutional policies, and the launch of a formal web archiving program. Sarah’s work bridges the strategic and technical aspects of digital preservation, and she is committed to building institutional capacity through training, collaboration, and community-driven initiatives.
An active participant in national and international digital preservation conversations, Sarah serves on the Association of Canadian Archivists’ Communications Committee and is the web administrator for the Bibliographical Society of Canada. She brings with her a depth of experience in sound and moving image preservation, web archiving, and open-source workflows, and has contributed to numerous workshops aimed at building confidence and technical fluency in digital preservation practices.
In her new role as CARL’s VPO for Digital Preservation, Sarah will collaborate closely with the Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG), under the auspices of CARL’s Advancing Research Committee, to help strengthen and coordinate digital preservation efforts across Canadian institutions. Her work will include developing a multi-year action plan in alignment with the @Risk North 3 summit recommendations, facilitating a national benchmarking exercise, advancing community training initiatives, and supporting digital preservation considerations across major infrastructure platforms such as Borealis and Scholaris.
CARL looks forward to working with Sarah to support this vital area of national research infrastructure. Her work began on May 1st, 2025.
