Programme of Work for the Coalition

The Coalition is seen as operating on four levels:

• activities undertaken individually by member institutions and sectors but accomplished and co-ordinated in line with their commitment to the principles and goals of the Coalition (and enabled by their participation in its activities);
• a core set of Coalition activities of common interest and benefit to all its members supported by resources from its membership and sponsoring bodies;
• a series of collaborative projects which would be taken forward with project funding drawn from a variety of sources;
• Through the Coalition, its members, and strategic alliances, promoting, developing, and implementing a national infrastructure of services and training for sustaining access to and preservation of, digital resources.

Proposed Programmes and Core Activities

As a newly established organisation the programme and longer term business plan for the Coalition will be developed in consultation with its membership and other potential external funders activities. It is recognised that the first year must focus on selected activities and building up the long-term potential for the Coalition. Currently an annual workplan is developed by the Coalition in consultation with its membership. This prioritises activities identified to achieve its core goals by its members. These include:

1. Establishment of the Coalition and development of the Coalition's programme and plans to address its long-term goals by:

• establishing a legal entity and its constitution;
• instituting a membership agreement incorporating agreement to a concordat of the principles and goals of the Coalition as a condition of membership;
• establishing criteria for membership and participation and actively seeking to broaden membership, sponsorship, and participation from other relevant organisations and individuals;
• constructing a budget and delivering an agreed programme;
• developing and achieving a business plan, funding and staffing for subsequent years;
• establishing an independent web presence, identity, and publicity materials.

2. Constructing and disseminating information on current research and practice and building expertise amongst its members to accelerate their learning and widen the pool of professionals skilled in digital preservation by:

• developing and maintaining webpages and a digital preservation portal built around an electronic version of Preservation Management of Digital Materials handbook and international collaboration with the Preserving Access to Digital Information (PADI) site;
• utilising and expanding the digital preservation list (currently c 800 members) on JISCmail to disseminate information on the work of the Coalition and digital preservation activities in its members;
• holding two Coalition forums each year to share and develop practical expertise;
• securing broad participation in the UK ISO digital archiving working group which contributes to international efforts to develop and implement the Open Archival Information Systems (OAIS) standard.

3. Instituting a concerted and co-ordinated effort to get digital preservation on the agenda of key stakeholders in terms that they will understand and find persuasive by:

• developing a concerted and sustained information campaign with its members for the first year and beyond, which identifies and prioritises action with key stakeholders (eg UK government, funding bodies, sponsors, data creators, professional peer groups, educators, hardware, software and service vendors).
• launching the Coalition and seeking participation from other institutions and individuals:
• undertaking major press events for the Coalition targeting the press and key decision-makers;
• holding joint forums with major hardware, software, and service vendors;
• developing Coalition information materials and their dissemination.
• Acting as a representative voice of its members and making representation to national and international bodies on digital preservation.

4. Acting in concert to make arguments for appropriate and adequate funding to secure the nation's investment in digital resources and ensure an enduring global digital memory by:

• including arguments for appropriate and adequate funding in a concerted and sustained information campaign;
• development of costed proposals by individual institutions and sectors;
• a survey/report establishing current and future needs and capacity in the UK and making recommendations for actions;
• seeking to optimise use of existing resources through co-operative action where appropriate;
• additional targeted actions as part of future business plan or expanded membership eg; dedicated fund-raising effort; consultancy to develop cost models.

5. Providing a focus for the co-ordination and development of digital preservation strategies in the UK and placing them within an international context by:

• establishing a framework which encourages and supports the emergence of national, regional, sectoral, and institutional commitments to digital preservation in the UK;
• publicising the preservation strategies and commitments to digital preservation of members and related agencies;
• identifing gaps and fosters action to address them;
• co-ordinating shared elements;
• positioning UK activities in an international context through international representation in its activities and alliances.

6. Promoting the development of appropriate services, technology, standards, and training for digital preservation by:

• actions for 2, 3, 4, and 5;
• establishing special interest groups supported by the active participation of the membership (eg web archiving, or e-publications);
• additional targeted actions as part of future business plan (eg long-term technology watch from a preservation perspective, training initiatives).

7.Forging strategic alliances with relevant agencies nationally and internationally, and working collaboratively together and with industry and research organisations, to address shared challenges in digital preservation by:

• selecting allied organisations and individuals and seeking their active participation in the Coalition;
• mutual support and coordination with key international initiatives such as PADI and OAIS, and national initiatives such as the Research Grid, e-government, and legal deposit of electronic publications;
• establishing memoranda of understanding and partnership agreements eg with the National Preservation Office;
• fostering collaborative projects and sponsored activities.

8. Attracting funding to the Coalition to support achievement of its goals and programmes by:

• seeking wider sponsorship of its core activities and programmes;
• broadening the membership and contributions to the Coalition;
• building a robust organisational structure and a track record of successful initiatives;
• bidding for collaborative project funding;
• enabling fund raising by individual member institutions in the Coalition

Examples of activities undertaken individually by member institutions and sectors but accomplished and co-ordinated in line with their commitment to the principles and goals of the Coalition

• institutional activities and outcomes publicised and disseminated through information and contributions to the Coalition webpages, digital preservation list, and members meetings.
• Making institutional and sectoral commitments to digital preservation and mapping roles and responsibilities onto a national strategy for digital preservation

Examples of a collaborative projects which would be taken forward with project funding drawn from a variety of sources. These could be developed along the lines of other successful collaborative projects, or special interest groups and taskforces eg the RLG/CPA taskforce, Cedars, Nedlib, etc. Potential examples for the Coalition include:

• Archiving web based resources - collaborative projects between members and/or a Coalition interest group to foster/support individual projects undertaken on an institutional or sectoral basis.
• Digital Archive certification/specifications/competencies - developing and supporting potential projects for uk implementations (eg archiving criteria for UK funding and digitisation agencies).
• Utilising its membership and alliances to bid for sources of cross-sectoral and multi-institutional funding.