The Board of the OPF has appointed Ed Fay as the new Executive Director. Ed will join the OPF in February 2014 and will lead the organisation in its efforts to address its members' digital preservation challenges with a practical, and community-led approach.
Ross King, Chair of the Board, said: "The Board was extremely gratified to receive qualified applications from Europe, the Middle-East, India, and the United States. Four top candidates were selected by all board members and were interviewed personally by a board sub-committee. After evaluating the these candidates, support for Ed Fay within the committee and the OPF board was unanimous. Ed has demonstrated his understanding of the different challenges facing both libraries and archives and has a refreshing take on digital preservation from an institutional perspective. We look forward to working with him to enhance the visibility and reputation of the OPF and to create more value for its members".
Ed commented on his appointment: "I’m thrilled to join the OPF and contribute towards the development of digital preservation practice at an important time for libraries, archives, and memory institutions everywhere. The OPF’s mission is to enable collaboration and shared solutions and I look forward to working with members and the wider community to build capacity for the digital collections of the future"
Before being appointed by the OPF, Ed has been the Digital Library Manager of the London School of Economics (
LSE) for 5 years. He successfully managed the development of LSE’s digital library from its ince
ption to implementation. He also led digital preservation activities at LSE and their participation in a number of related projects and working groups. Prior to this he worked on several mass digitisation projects funded by JISC.
Ed will take over the role from Bram van der Werf who has managed and grown the OPF from its foundation in 2010 to become a sustainable membership organisation.
