UK Data Archive in Colchester are seeking to appoint a Data and Services Developer to join the Application Development and Maintenance section of the UK Data Archive. The section provides support for the critical needs of the other divisions in the UK Data Archive, developing, maintaining and updating internal and external systems which are in everyday use. Uk Data Archives has recently adopted a Continuous Integration and Testing approach to software development, using a suite of well know source code management, scripting, build and testing tools and all members of the section use Continuous Integration and Testing on a daily basis.  Salary: £29,972-£35,788 per annum Closing date: 20/11/11

For more details see: http://gs12.globalsuccessor.com/fe/tpl_essex01.asp?newms=jj&id=61347

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) has awarded eight scholarships so that members can attend the Digital Preservation Training Programme (DPTP) in London in November.

‘Training budgets are under a lot of pressure just now, but the need for skills in digital preservation continues to grow’, explained William Kilbride of the DPC. ‘We decided we would try to increase the number of scholarships this year because they have been very popular. This is the largest number we’ve so far funded through DPTP. We’re delighted to be able to support our members in this way.’

The following applicants were selected:

• Hugh Campbell of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland
• Anna Collins of Cambridge University Library
• Ruth Frendo of the Archives and Records Association
• Nick Hodder of The National Archives
• Paul James of the National Library of Wales
• Kirnn Kaur of the British Library
• Emily Nimmo of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
• Kate O’Brien of the Centre for E-Research at King’s College London

What's New - Issue 39, November 2011

In this issue:

• What's On - Forthcoming events from November 2011 onwards
• What's New - New reports and initiatives since the last issue
• What's What - Too Big to Fail - William Kilbride, DPC
• Who's Who - Sixty second interview with Janet Delve, KEEP Project, University of Portsmouth
• One World - Italian legislation on the preservation of electronic records - Mariella Guercio, University of Urbino
• Your View? - comments and views from readers

What's new is a joint publication of the DPC and DCC

PrePARe Project Officer (Part-time, Temporary) Grade: 6 Salary Range: £25,854 - £29,972 pa, pro-rata, Limit of tenure: 31 July 2012

Cambridge University Library is seeking to appoint a project officer (50% of a full time post) for the PrePARe project, funded by JISC under its Information Environment programme, to inform and improve digital preservation and information management skills of the academic community in the University of Cambridge. The project officer will work within a team of three to identify how the academic community in Cambridge view digital preservation and information management activities, with an intention to improve and expand on existing guidance and training provided in the area by the DSpace@Cambridge team.

He or she will undertake research to identify current best practices for information management training and guidance within the HEI community, followed by engagement with staff in selected university departments and research groups to explore what support is available and how this can be improved. Findings will inform the next phase of the project where appropriate training modules and online guidance will be developed. The post holder is expected to be part of the development, testing and evaluation of these resources. The post is within the Electronic Services and Systems Division of the Library. The post holder will report to the DSpace@Cambridge Repository Manager. The Library's Digitisation and Digital Preservation Manager will also provide support. Informal enquiries are welcomed by Elin Stangeland, DSpace@Cambridge RepositoryManager, 01223 333130, es444_at_cam.ac.uk or Barbara Bultmann, PrePARe Project Manager 01223 365740, bb342_at_cam.ac.uk.

Full details: http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/Vacancies/index.htm#599

The Future of File Format Identification: PRONOM and DROID User Consultation

The National Archives, Kew, London, 28.11.2011

The National Archives is proposing to launch a new phase of development of its DROID tool, and is seeking to engage with various user groups and stakeholders from the digital preservation community, government and the wider archives sector communities to help inform and discuss potential developments and user needs. As part of this process, The National Archives, in conjunction with the Digital Preservation Coalition, invites interested parties to attend a one day workshop, hosted at Kew on 28th November 2011, to discuss their experiences of using DROID and PRONOM in their respective disciplines, discuss how the tools fit their use case, and describe both positive and negative experiences of the tools and their interaction with The National Archives.

We're keen to hear from everyone so have opened a comments box to gather contributions in advance of the meeting and to help shape the agenda.  Click here to access the comments box and register for workshop. 

DPC members, associates and personal members are hereby invited to attend the Annual General Meeting of the Coalition at the Public Records Office of Northern Ireland, 2 Titanic Boulevard Titanic Quarter, Belfast BT3 9HQ on Thursday 1st December 2011 starting at 1530.  An agenda and other papers for the meeting will be circulated in due course and members are invited to suggest items for the Agenda by 17th November.  The meeting will be chaired by Richard Ovenden (Chair).

The AGM will be preceded by a meeting of the DPC Board.

Registration is now open ‘Intellectual Property Rights and Digital Preservation’, a briefing day sponsored jointly by the Digital Preservation Coalition and JISC Digital Media, in Bristol on 21 November 2011.

Digital preservation helps to deliver lasting impact from highly prized and valuable digital resources.  This is often understood as a technical challenge but experience shows that a poor fit between technology, processes and regulations constrains preservation actions and significantly inhibit the benefits which long-term access ought to deliver.  Operating within a complicated and evolving legal and regulatory landscape, the digital preservation community needs a clear understanding of what it is permitted to do and what risks might inhere within technical processes like format shifting, migration, bit replication and emulation. Foremost among these challenges is the management, protection and evolution of intellectual property rights.  It has long been recognised that digital rights management and encryption present a barrier to preserving content.  But intellectual property rights do not just impact on the contents of archives but applies also to the containers, wrappers and formats which make the contents accessible. 

What's New - Issue 38, October 2011

In this issue:

• What's On - forthcoming events from October 2011 onwards
• What's New - new reports and initiatives since the last issue
• What's What - Repositories and CRISs and research data management - oh, my! - Joy Davidson and Andrew McHugh
• Who's Who 1- Sixty second interview with Alison Heatherington, Digital Preservation Project Manager, Parliamentary Archives
• Who's Who 2 - Sixty second interview with Ginny Browne, Digital Assets Librarian, OCLC
• Your View? - comments and views from readers

What's new is a joint publication of the DPC and DCC

Informal notes from the 'POCOS' 'Preserving Software Art Symposium' are now available online for DPC members. 

JISC is funding Portsmouth University and partners to host a series of seminars and reports on the preservation of ‘complex objects’. This ‘POCOS’ project hosted an event on visualisation and simulation in London in June and the second meeting, on the preservation of software art took place in Glasgow between 11^th and 12^th October.  A third and final event on gaming will be held in 2012. 

• notes from the Preserving Software Art Symposium are available for DPC members (login required, PDF, 247KB)
• login or register for the DPC website

The DPC is pleased to announce that it will be offering three scholarships to attend the Digital Preservation Training Programme, in London, 14-16th November 2011.  The deadline for applications is 1200 on Friday 28th October.  All DPC members are entitled to apply . 

See the DPC Leadership Programme for more details including a brief description of the course, eligibility and how to apply