The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) is delighted to share its new program of events for the coming year.
The new prospectus contains a host of new and returning publications, webinars, specialist briefing days, as well as other activities on a range of pressing subjects within the practice of digital preservation.
Requested by members at the latest DPC ‘Connecting the Bits’ Unconference, the activities reflect issues pertaining to the current and shifting digital preservation landscape, and aim to provide the information and skills to respond positively and effectively.
“New techniques and technologies continuously change the way we must approach the digital preservation challenge,” explains Executive Director of the DPC, William Kilbride. “The great strength of the Coalition is its rich skill set, growing around the world, and at our disposal. We are very fortunate to be able to draw from this to help members address these new and evolving issues through the exciting activities we have planned for the next 12 months.”
Brand new for 2017-2018, a training session on Advocacy will equip members with the skills they need to make the case for digital preservation within their own organizations, and a community forum ‘Digital Futures’ will engage members and Commercial Supporters on new and emerging trends, technologies and requirements. A much broader range of task forces and working parties will provide focused peer support, and new briefing days will provide advice and guidance on ‘Significance and Authenticity,’ ‘GDPR and Digital Preservation,’ ‘JPEG2000,’ ‘Repository Migration,’ and ‘Certification and Accreditation.’
After great feedback from its successful inaugural session, the DPC will hold three more ‘Digital Preservationists Anonymous’ workshops around the UK. Informally referred to amongst the DPC Team as ‘Fail Club,’ this event brings together DPC members to share mistakes made and challenges encountered, before discussing how to learn from those experiences and move forward.
The program retains the ever-popular student conference ‘What I Wish I Knew Before I Started’ and the ‘Getting Started in Digital Preservation’ Roadshow. The complementary and intermediate ‘Making Progress in Digital Preservation’ will also make a return; appealing to those who have covered the basics and need a little more support in specific areas of digital preservation.
The widely read series of Technology Watch Reports will continue investigations into the latest topical and technical issues with titles on ‘Preserving Databases’ and ‘JPEG2000’ to be published next year, and the long awaited ‘Preservation PDF/A’ due for public release in Autumn 2017 (member preview available now). And, following the outstanding work of the Mellon funded US-based Task Force on Technical Approaches to Email Preservation, an update to the ‘Preserving Email’ Technology Watch Report has also been scheduled for 2018.
Highlights of the year include the first ever International Digital Preservation Day on 30th November which will draw together individuals and institutions from across the world, with member blogs and publications to showcase the importance of digital preservation and the great work DPC members do.
And with more international members than ever this year, the DPC is committed to making sure activities continue to be useful, relevant and accessible by offering more online sessions and resources, recordings and live streams from briefing days, as well as the opportunity to connect through the members blog.
DPC members receive free-of-charge priority access to events and publications and the program is overseen by full members who commission research tied directly to their strategic needs. The not-for-profit coalition is an advocate for digital preservation, and ensures its members can continue to deliver resilient long-term access to digital content and services through targeted advocacy work, training and workforce development, research and best practice, and enabling sustainability through partnerships. Its primary objective is raising awareness of the importance of the preservation of digital material and the attendant strategic, cultural and technological issues.