Aliza Leventhal

Co-Director of iPress, as well as the co-founder and co-chair of Society of American Archivists’ Design Records Section’s Digital Design Records Committee (DDRC), Aliza is currently the Director of the Fleet Library at the Rhode Island School of Design.
Prior to joining RISD she was the Head of Technical Services for the Prints & Photographs Division at the Library of Congress. Her other work experience includes serving as the corporate librarian and archivist for the Boston-based interdisciplinary design firm, Sasaki, and as a database designer for EBSCO Information Services. 

Since 2012, Aliza's research has primarily focused on lowering the barriers to engage with both analog and born-digital design records and raise awareness within the design industry of the significance of the records they produced. Aliza prioritizes collaboration and cross-disciplinary sharing whenever possible in her work, emphasizing the fecund outcomes when multiple stakeholders can develop a shared language and appreciate diverse perspectives. She has written and presented extensively in a variety of forums including Society of American Archivists (SAA), the Visual Resources Association, the International Confederation of Architectural Museums, and the Library of Congress. 

Additionally, she co-facilitates the SAA course Managing Physical & Digital Architecture, Design, and Construction Records. Notable recent publications she co-authored include “Preserving Born-Digital Design and Construction Records Technology Watch Report” for the Digital Preservation Coalition, the SAA three-Module series on Born-Digital Design Records, and two American Archivist articles in 2021 "Of Grasshoppers and Rhinos: A Visual Literacy Approach to Born-Digital Design Records" and “Design Records Appraisal Tool.” 

She holds an MLIS and an MA in history from Simmons University’s Archives Management Program, and a BA in economics and American studies from Smith College.