In the broad research areas of digital curation and digital preservation, he investigates preservation management, preservation metadata, digital repositories, users and issues of trust and trustworthiness in a digital repository context. Donaldson’s research has appeared in the Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST), the New Security Paradigms Workshop, Archival Science, and Library Hi Tech. Donaldson has presented his research at the International Conference on the Preservation of Digital Objects (iPRES) as well as the Conference of the International Association for Social Science Information Services and Technology (IASSIST). He holds a Ph.D. in Information from the University of Michigan, a M.S. in Library Science from the University of North Carolina, and a B.A. in History from the College of William and Mary.