The Digital Preservation Coalition is a not-for-profit membership agency which provides training, advocacy, capacity-building and partnerships in digital preservation, helping our members ensure our digital memory is accessible tomorrow.
It's a global endeavour. So from 1st August 2016 we will encourage and approve well-founded applications to join the Coalition as full or associate members from around the World.
Until now, members have primarily been based in the UK and Ireland. Our membership has grown considerably in recent years and our existence is a practical manifestation of collaboration. The DPC is outward-looking and established on a robust foundation.
We're making this change because we recognise the growing need for international co-operation, partnerships and interaction.
We're not acting in isolation. The Coalition celebrates and commends our relationships with cognate agencies in Germany (nestor), the Netherlands (NCDD) and the USA (National Digital Stewardship Alliance - NDSA). We commend also those agencies with whom we continue to work to deliver sustainable open source solutions for digital preservation (Open Preservation Foundation - OPF), tools and standards for web archiving (International Internet Preservation Consortium - IIPC) and good practice in the management of social science data (Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research - ICPSR). We seek to strengthen these partners, and our partnership with them.
Here are our expectations:
- Every agency with an interest in digital preservation, in any part of the world, is encouraged to enter a dialogue with the DPC and will be welcome to apply for full or associate membership, with all the rights, access and responsibilities pertaining to that level of membership.
- We define digital preservation to encompass all the topics and functions associated with ensuring our digital memory is accessible tomorrow, including ‘sustainability’, ‘curation’, ‘permanent access’, ‘digital continuity’ or other related concepts.
- We are vendor neutral. Companies seeking digital preservation solutions are welcome to join; companies offering digital preservation tools or services are welcome to participate in our work and support it, but not as members.
- Agencies in the US, Germany and the Netherlands not active in the UK or Ireland are encouraged to engage with our partner agencies in those countries (respectively NDSA, nestor and NCDD)
- Agencies with specific interests in sustainable software solutions for digital preservation or web archiving are encouraged to engage with the Open Preservation Foundation (OPF) or the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) respectively.
- Our publications will be in English but translation will be considered where a clear need can be shown and funds permit.
- Our activities will continue to focus on the UK and Ireland but will be increasingly supplemented with webcasting, teleconferencing and travel grants where appropriate to ensure that everyone can participate.
- Where the need is evident, where groups of members request it and where funds permit, we will expand DPC events outside of the UK and Ireland.
- We extend an open hand of friendship to support the development of a network of DPC-a-like organisations, seeking to encourage their development where possible.
Here, in summary, are the benefits of joining the DPC:
- Priority access to topical events and webinars throughout the year
- Priority access to specialist reports and commentary
- Participation in specialist working parties and think-tank groups
- Dedicated support from subject specialist staff
- Access to cross-sectoral and cross-profession network
- Participation in high-level advocacy and policy development
- Ability to commission subject specialist research and training
- Priority access to DPC projects and plans
- Priority access to high-value digital content
- Recruitment and procurement support
- Priority access to training events
- Access to scholarship programme for training and travel
- Highly visible contribution to addressing a global challenge
If you would like to discuss membership, please contact us via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.