DPC Members
Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 August 2012 15:35
The Digital Preservation Coalition welcomes the Royal Museums Greenwich as its latest associate member, 2nd May 2012
The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome Royal Museums Greenwich as its newest member.
Richard Ferguson, Documentation Manager, Royal Museums Greenwich said 'Having the opportunity to join a community of practice which has a focus on addressing and developing greater understanding of the challenges of digital preservation is most timely.'
'We have a mission to illustrate for everyone the importance of sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people through maximising access to its collections and its expertise. Developing robust and sustainable strategies, processes and infrastructure to support management, care and preservation of both collection and corporate digital assets is a core objective of our strategic plan.'
Richard Ovenden, chair of the Coalition, warmly welcomed the fifth new member this year.
'Royal Museums Greenwich have first- rate collections, highly-skilled staff and progressive management so it is a particular pleasure to welcome them to the Coalition. DPC's relationships with the museum sector were previously directed through MLA, with its strategic role to support the sector. It is perhaps no surprise that - in the same month that MLA was finally wound up - a major national museum has decided to join the DPC.'
'Royal Museums Greenwich and their staff will benefit greatly from their membership. We hope that their decision encourages others to do the same.'
The Digital Preservation Coalition welcomes the University of Manchester Library as its latest associate member, 1st May 2012
The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the University of Manchester Library as its newest member.
'The University of Manchester Library has a strong interest in digital preservation at both a strategic and operational level,' explained Sandra Bracegirdle. 'We have recently carried out a significant review of our digital preservation work as we see this as a key issue for the Library. '
'Membership of the DPC provides us with opportunities to collaborate with a range of organisations and to share knowledge and expertise. By joining DPC as an Associate Member we hope to play an active role in building up the UK's digital preservation community.'
Richard Ovenden, chair of the Coalition, welcomed this newest member. ''We're really pleased to welcome the University of Manchester Library to the Coalition: it will strengthen their work but it will also strengthen the DPC. They are the fourth major academic library to have joined the DPC in the last 12 months and it's encouraging to see such a strong commitment to digital preservation from the major research libraries.'
The Digital Preservation Coalition welcomes the Information Directorate of the University of York as its latest associate member, 6th February 2012
The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the Information Directorate of the University of York as its newest member.
'Accessing and preserving digital information is one of the great challenges of the 21st century,' explained Chris Webb of the University of York. 'We recognise the importance and scale of the challenge, and we're pleased to join the DPC, which is a key partnership that enables these difficult areas to be tackled for the benefit of all.'
Richard Ovenden, chair of the Coalition, welcomed this newest member. ''York University has a long association with the DPC and our main offices are on campus in Heslington. It's great that they have now joined the Coalition in their own right and we are looking forward to working with them.'
William Kilbride of the DPC also welcomed the news: 'DPC's new strategic plan has a renewed emphasis on workforce development and assurance. York University will have priority access to these activities empowering their staff and giving them a ready-made support network.'
The Digital Preservation Coalition welcomes LSE Library as its latest associate member, 1st December 2011
DPC is delighted to welcome the London School of Economics as its newest member.
‘LSE Library has been developing its digital preservation capacity for around two years - since initial planning and making the business case’, explained Ed Fay. ‘We have already made use of the events programme offered by the DPC to train members of our specialist team. Now that our preservation capacity is moving from development to operation we enter a new phase of activity.’
‘Membership of the DPC will provide crucial support as we move from innovation around technology and process to embedding skills and practice throughout the Library groups.’
‘We’re delighted to welcome LSE to the Coalition’, said William Kilbride. ‘We have worked with staff of LSE for some time and they have been strong supporters of our work. Now that they are within the Coalition they will be able to access training and publications directly and will be able to participate in our various working parties. This will help them achieve their own strategic goals but it will also be of benefit to the rest of the Coalition.’
The Digital Preservation welcomes Leeds University as its latest associate member, 16th September 2011
The University of Leeds has joined the Digital Preservation Coalition.
'Over the last few years our digital collections have grown and diversified', explained Bo Middleton of the University Library. ' They represent a considerable investment and we must move to protect these assets through active preservation.'
'We have joined the DPC because we want to be active participants in discussions of key digital preservation issues. We also recognise the benefits that will accrue from access to world class research. We are delighted to become members of the key forum for the digital preservation community which is working to develop policies and encourage the adoption of best practice.'
Richard Ovenden, chair of the Coalition, welcomed this newest member. 'Leeds University has made a significant contribution to digital preservation research over the years. Their decision to join is evidence of the growing impact of the Coalition and the recognition of the benefits of working together in this emerging field. '
William Kilbride of the DPC also welcomed the news: 'We've just launched our programme for the next 12 months which will include a new generation of technology watch reports, expert briefings on key topics like intellectual property rights, cloud storage and business continuity management. Leeds University will have priority access to these and other activities this year, empowering their staff and giving them a ready-made support network.'
The Digital Preservation Coalition welcomes Portsmouth University as its latest associate member 12th April 2011
The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the University of Portsmouth as its latest associate member.
'The Future Proof Computing Group at the University of Portsmouth has a track record of research and development of digital preservation through initiatives like the KEEP project (Keeping Emulation Environments Portable)' explained Dr David Anderson. 'We're about to start a new project, POCOS, funded by the JISC, on the preservation of complex objects, and have interests in topics like the sustainability of computer games technology, the history of computing, emulation, virtualization and data warehousing.
Dr Janet Delve observed 'We’re delighted to join the DPC as a way of amplifying and facilitating our research, especially for the KEEP project.'
'This is just one example of the wide range of expertise within the coalition that we’re keen to share. DPC has an impressively diverse membership: working with them will help ensure the greatest possible impact from our research.'
'Portsmouth is home to one of a small but growing number of centres where the challenges of digital preservation are being turned into advantages - so we're very excited that they've joined us', explained William Kilbride of the DPC. 'It's all too easy for research to be isolated or inward-looking. By joining the Coalition, Portsmouth acquires a large and ready-made community of users and experts in a broad range of institutions eager to test, validate and deploy the solutions that they provide. The DPC members will undoubtedly benefit from projects like KEEP - but I'm also sure that the project will benefit from engagement with the DPC too.'Richard Ovenden, chair of the DPC welcomed the news too.
'The core values of the DPC are about mutual support and lasting impact. This is an attractive proposition at tough times for researchers because of the instant network of users that it brings. The membership continues to grow which is a credit to the programme of advocacy, events and publications which the DPC manages. It's also evidence that more and more agencies are seeing the benefits of working together.'
The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the National Library of Ireland as its latest associate member 1st March 2011
The National Library of Ireland is the latest organisation to join the Digital Preservation Coalition, helping the Library to address the challenges and opportunities associated with long term management of digital collections.
'The core mission of the National Library of Ireland (NLI) is to collect, preserve, promote and make accessible the documentary and intellectual record of the life of Ireland,' explained Della Murphy, Assistant Keeper at NLI. 'One of our key strategic aims is the development of a digital collections policy with preservation and access infrastructure to match. By putting in place the necessary policy and infrastructure, we will maximise access to our resources, enhance and expand the services we offer, and enable users to work with the Library and Library collections in new and innovative ways.'
'The National Library of Ireland believes that working with partners in the DPC will vitally inform and support the implementation of best practice in relation to policy and infrastructural development in the area of digital preservation.'
William Kilbride, Executive Director of the DPC, welcomed the new membership. 'Digital preservation is a daunting challenge for organisations that want to ensure long term value from the collections for which they are responsible. The problem is bigger than any one agency. Collaboration is the key to efficient and successful deployment of the emerging solutions and services that will make our digital memory accessible tomorrow. Membership of the DPC gives NLI a ready-made network of peers and colleagues - all of whom share a common challenge. This will expedite their work and mean that others can benefit more immediately from the expertise that they bring.'
'It's great news that the National Library of Ireland has joined' noted Richard Ovenden, chair of the DPC. 'The coalition is growing quite quickly. NLI is the second agency to join the Coalition this year, taking our membership to thirty seven - the highest it has ever been. Agencies simply can't afford to work in isolation when faced with a shared challenge. So the opportunities for knowledge transfer, policy development and collaboration that the DPC offers have never been more attractive or necessary.'
The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the Metropolitan Police Service as its latest associate member, 1st Feb 2011
details to follow ...
The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) is delighted to welcome the UK LOCKSS Alliance as its latest associate member, 20th December 2010
The UK LOCKSS Alliance is a co-operative organization which ensures continuing access to scholarly work over the long term. Its focus is on ensuring preservation and continuing access to electronic journals, but has interests and current research work on the preservation of all library collections, thus making it a natural fit within the DPC family.
"We're really pleased to have the UK LOCKSS Alliance as members of the Coalition," explained William Kilbride of the DPC. "They bring a distinctive and considerable degree of technical expertise into the Coalition. It strengthens our connections with academic libraries across the UK as well with the 'LOCKSS - Lots Of Copies Keep Stuff Safe' technology which was developed originally in Stanford University Library."
Adam Rusbridge of the UK LOCKSS Alliance also welcomed the news. "We are delighted to join the Digital Preservation Coalition as Associate Members. We look forward to learning from DPC members, and believe the knowledge shared will improve our ability to respond effectively to the challenges faced by the UK library community.
"We're keen to work together to coordinate an effective national strategy for at-risk scholarly material. We are also very interested in the DPC's web archiving and preservation task force, it's soon-to-be-established task force on audit and certification, and in learning about colleague's approaches to digital preservation more generally."
St Andrews University joins the DPC, 28th July 2010
The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome St Andrews University as its latest associate member.
Birgit Plietzsch, Arts Computing Advisor at the University explained 'Most of today's information is held in a digital format. As a University we need to ensure that digital information remains accessible for as long as required. Our current focus is on the preservation of Arts and Humanities electronic resources. Such resources are often the outcome of expensive publicly funded research projects. It is in the interest of the scholarly community within the University to ensure the data contained within these resources is preserved in the long-term.'
'The DPC unites a wealth of national and international expertise in different areas of digital preservation. Through joining the DPC we look forward to integrating our efforts within the wider national context.'
'We're really delighted that St Andrews have joined us', commented William Kilbride of the DPC. 'As well as gaining access to events and working groups, their membership will help them to sustain and develop new partnerships and it will undoubtedly strengthen the coalition. St Andrews are our fifth new member since the start of the year. This rapid growth underlines the demand for digital preservation advice allied with a heightened sense of the need to work together.'
Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) at Glasgow University joins the DPC, 29th June 2010
The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII) at Glasgow University as its newest associate member.
Since its foundation, HATII has had a strong commitment to digital preservation and digitization. It has been involved in a large number of collaborative initiatives such as the Digital Curation Centre, the PLANETS project, Digital Preservation Europe and Erpanet.
'HATII sees new opportunities to frame its research through DPC membership as well as an opportunity to influence policy and practice', explained Ann Gow, Associate Director. 'Long term access to digital resources is an aspiration across the public and private sectors. It requires a diverse range of experience if it is to be achieved
HATII is delighted to join the DPC as an associate member. We recognise the value of partnership in this critical area and look forward to interdisciplinary collaboration with the DPC'
Scottish Arts Council joins the Digital Preservation Coalition - 30th April 2010
The Scottish Arts Council has taken a significant step to securing a lasting legacy from Scotland's digital creativity by joining the Digital Preservation Coalition. In doing so it joins a growing number of strategic bodies and memory institutions taking steps to ensure that digital objects can be accessible to future generation.
'The Scottish Arts Council takes digital preservation seriously', explained Kate Wallace, Senior Research Officer, Scottish Arts Council. 'Preserving a digital legacy for future generations of artists, organisations and the public gives greater access and can inspire learning.'
RCAHMS/ RCAHMW - The SWISH Partnership - 18th January 2010
The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome as members the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland and the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales, acting jointly through the 'SWISH Partnership'.
'The Royal Commissions collect, record and interpret information on the architectural, industrial, archaeological and maritime heritage of our countries,' explained Kirsty Lingstadt of RCAHMS. 'We have been doing this for more than a hundred years so our archives are vast and continue to expand.'
'Our digital collections are growing rapidly. Between us we curate more than 300,000 digital objects totalling over 11TB and we expect this to increase by more than 50000 objects and 3TB annually. We have very diverse types of data including GIS data, vector graphics and laser scanning.
'In 2003 RCAHMS and RCAHMW established a joint venture called - SWISH (Shared Web Information Services for Heritage) to share maintenance and development costs and to create a shared vision for future enhancements of our online resources. The partnership enables us to share ideas and experiences and develop joint strategies'
'We are looking forward to working with DPC so that we can develop a trusted digital repository that will help us curate and provide access to these important and popular collections.'
Richard Ovenden, Chair of the DPC said 'Naturally I am delighted to welcome these new members to the Coalition. The organisations within the SWISH partnership have outstanding collections and a lot of experience within their staff: I expect we will learn from them as well as assisting them to achieve their own goals.'
'These latest recruits bring the membership to a new high of 32. That's very pleasing but it's not surprising. Digital preservation and issues relating to long term access to digital information can seem daunting: by working together, the Digital Preservation Coalition is developing the skills and approaches needed for our members to ensure the proper preservation of their collections, and continued services to their users.'
For more on RCAHMS and their collections see: www.rcahms.gov.uk
For more on RCAHMW and their collections see: www.rcahmw.gov.uk
Archaeology Data Service - 11th January 2010
The DPC is pleased to announce that the Archaeology Data Service at the University of York has become the latest organisation to join the coalition.
'The Archaeology Data service is a national data archive for archaeology and related disciplines in the UK', explained Prof Julian Richards, director of the ADS. 'We are the mandated archive for archaeological data for the AHRC and NERC and work closely with a variety of national agencies such as English Heritage, to ensure the long term preservation and dissemination of digital data. We currently curate more than 250 archives covering thousands of archaeological projects, as well as a wealth of digital library resources. There is a broad range of data types and several terabytes of data.'
'The DPC is the lead UK forum for the promotion of digital preservation policy and best practice. We have worked with the DPC before - although our membership was as a constituent of the former Arts and Humanities Data Service. With the demise of AHDS we see the need to be directly involved with developments at a national and cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary level.'
Welcoming the ADS, Richard Ovenden, Chair of the DPC commented 'We're really pleased that the ADS has joined the Coalition. They have been long time supporters and have a great track record of effective action as well as leadership within their community. Participation in our activities and events will be a great benefit to them and will keep them up to date with a fast moving field. But it is also good news for the other 30 members that we'll be able to access their expertise and experience.'
For more about the Archaeology Data Service see http://ads.ahds.ac.uk
English Heritage - 29th September 2009
We are delighted to announce that English Heritage has become the latest organisation to join the Digital Preservation Coalition as an associate member.
English Heritage is the lead body for the conservation of England’s historic environment. The research and documentation which EH carries out and which it funds in the wider sector to support this remit is increasingly created and disseminated in digital formats, sometimes using techniques which are at the cutting edge of new technologies. It is crucial that this work remains accessible to future generations so that it can continue to inform understanding and management of the historic environment.
Mike Evans, Head of Archives for the English Heritage National Monuments Record, explained, 'Over 18.5 Tb of data is held by the National Monuments Record and very large volumes of data collected or funded by EH are held on local servers or curated by third parties.
'In an era in which the study and the management of the past around us depends more and more on digital tools and communication, we believe that the work of the Coalition and its members can help EH make a real contribution to safeguarding the collective memory of the historic environment sector
'We're very pleased to be joining the Digital Preservation Coalition.'
Bruno Longmore, Acting Chair of the DPC and Head of Government for the National Archives of Scotland, welcomed English Heritage to the coalition.
'Our members represent very diverse agencies, in public and professional practice. This is not surprising: the challenge of long term and reliable access to data is one that many organisations face. By joining, English Heritage have not only got access to the resources and support of the coalition to help face that challenge, but they have also clearly signalled that they are serious about working to resolve this challenge.'
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