Registration has opened for a Members' Briefing Day entitled 'Designed to Last: Preserving Computer Aided Design' at the Conservation Centre, the British Library, London, Friday 16th July 2010. 

Computer aided design (CAD) has revolutionised modelling and drawing in many different sectors and CAD systems now underpin work in fields as diverse as animation, architecture, engineering, heritage management and manufacturing and it intersects with many different technologies such as 3d modelling, GIS, simulation and gaming.  But CAD has not received the same attention from the digital preservation community as other file and media types: there is precious little advice for archivists and repository managers who are faced with the question of managing these complex data sets through time. 

Details of the programme, with instructions on how to register are now online at: http://www.dpconline.org/details/16-computer-aided-design.html?xref=16

What's New - Issue 26, June 2010

In this issue:

• What's on, and What's new
• Editorial: We are the people – but who are we exactly? William Kilbride, (DPC).
• Who's who: sixty second interview with Lorena Zambrano, UK Data Archive
• One world: Adam Farquhar, British Library
• Your view: Commentary, questions and debate from readers

JISC, the Digital Preservation Coalition, Portico and the University of London Computer Centre are pleased to announce the release of a new report investigating long term access to digitised collections.

The digital universe grew by 62% in 2009, but those adding to these resources need to think long term if they want to make best use of their public funding. Clearly stated preservation policies are essential in guaranteeing that researchers in the future will be able to access and use a digital resource, according to a new report funded by JISC. But the responsibility needs to be shared between funders, who must articulate the need for data curation, and universities, who need to implement a preservation policy for each digital collection.

The advice comes as the government announces a new 'right to data' so that government-held datasets can be requested and used by the public, and then published on a regular basis.

The DPC and the British Library Preservation Advisory Centre have joined forces to offer a joint workshop to help collection managers 'Decode the Digital'.  This one day conference seeks to build on the communication between librarians, archivists, curators, conservators and digital preservation managers and establish a shared understanding of the issues surrounding the preservation of digital collections. A workshop at the British Library on 27th July will be the first of a series of planned joint training activities between the DPC and BLPAC since signing a memorandum of understanding in February this year.  There are 35 sponsored places for DPC members: non-members pay £50.  Details of the programme are online at the British Library. DPC members wishing to attend should contact us by 19th July.

The DPC Web Archiving and Preservation Task Force was established at the start of 2010 It identifies, examines and reviews current policy in web archiving and preservation, provides a mutually supportive environment for continued policy development for members and a mechanism through which non-members can engage with web archiving policy. In this way the Task Force will help to ensure that our generation can carve an appropriate legacy from the complexity and volatility of the web.

 In preparation for a meeting to review collecting policies for web archiving, the members have recently completed an extensive survey of current and emerging collecting policies for web content.  The next meeting - on Wednesday - will use this as a basis for discussion and planning. The survey and subsequent recommendations will be published in due course, but members are invited to inspect a draft of the survey online at the DPC website (login required):

http://www.dpconline.org/vendor-reports/download-document/455-dpcwaptf0510b.html

Changes to membership 2010-11: a message from the Chair

Dear colleagues,

I'm writing to pass on some news about DPC subscriptions in 2010-11. Our Planning Day in November initiated a wide ranging discussion on the DPC membership.  The DPC Board has now agreed a few changes that we are confident that you will welcome. We plan for them to become effective from August 2010. They aim to make the DPC more flexible, to extend our planning horizons, and to make it easier for us to articulate the benefits of membership.

1. From August, members who are willing to make a three year commitment to the coalition, will get a 10 percent discount in their subscription.  This can be paid in a lump sum or in annual instalments.

2. We will introduce a new class of individual personal membership this year and also aim to establish a new class of membership for archive and library schools in the near future.

3. You'll be aware that subscriptions have not changed since the Coalition was established in 2002.  In the last year we have offered more events than ever before, we have published more papers than ever before, we have engaged more actively in public policy debate than ever before, and we've added a very popular scholarship programme - all with the same staffing complement. The DPC Board agreed that the DPC membership values this level of activity and that we need to sustain it at present levels. In order to ensure this, the Board therefore agreed to increase the baseline subscription for Associate membership by 200 pounds.  It's a modest but necessary increase: in fact, if the three year discount is taken into account, the associate subscription package will be reduced to 1980 levels.

We've also gone some way to spell out the greater benefits that come with full membership, so we hope we might persuade you to consider upgrading to full membership level!

Yours

Richard Ovenden

Chair of the DPC

The DPC is making some changes to membership to make it easier for consultants, sole traders and recent graduates to participate in our work.  A new class of personal membership is being trialled so that individuals without an organisational affiliation apply for grants, attend specialist events, obtain priority access to publications and collaborate on work streams which have previously been restricted to institutional members. 

Personal membership will be launched for a trial period of twelve months in July 2010. Sole traders, recently-graduated students and consultants will be able to join the coalition for a year with a one off payment of 120 pounds.  Personal members will be invited to participate in all the activities of the coalition throughout the year.  In the first year, fees will be fixed and places limited on a first come-first-served basis to twenty five.  A review towards the end of the year will put personal membership on a longer term footing within the coalition.

We'd like to hear from interested parties and welcome questions which will help us shape the personal membership category.  Further details and an application pack will be released in early July 2010. An early expression of interest will guarantee a place for those eligible.  Prospective applicants should also read the DPC prospectus 2010-11.

This innovation originated from the lively discussions at our Planning Day in November 2009 and was taken forward by a small working party.  It was approved by the Board of the Coalition in March 2010.

Second Digital Preservation Case Note Released

The Digital Preservation Coalition, with ULCC and Portico, with the support of the National Archives and sponsorship from JISC is pleased to announce the release of the second in our series of Digital Preservation Case Notes.

In this case note we examine the relationship between policy and practice in digital preservation.  The National Archives has digitised a significant volume of the UK's Cabinet Papers, using techniques and practices that they have developed over many years.  It has considerable expertise in digital preservation. However the measure of their commitment to long term preservation is not so much their undoubted expertise so much as their carefully considered policy framework for the long term management of digital resources. Funders often ask to see policy documents in assessing grant applications: for digitisation grants, or other grants likely to create prolific amounts of new and valuable digital content, it is reasonable to assess their digital preservation policies.

 Digital preservation policies indicate whether an organization is committed to long-term access. Grant giving organizations should request copies of applicant’s digital preservation policies when funding data creation.

The DPC has today released a prospectus for activities from August 2010 to July 2011. It describes the benefits of membership and introduces a new class of membership for personal members. The prospectus outlines forthcoming events and publications and includes details of a new type of discount for members who commit to join for three years.

For more details see the prospectus [PDF]   

What's New - Issue 25, May 2010

In this issue:

• What's on, and What's new
• Editorial: Digital curation skills: Who needs them and how do you get them? Joy Davidson, Associate Director, Digital Curation Centre (DCC).
• Who's who: Sixty second interview with Jen Mitcham of Archaeology Data Service
• One world: Maggie Jones, Australia (previous Executive Secretary of the DPC)
• Your view: commentary, questions and debate from readers