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

The DPC, with help from the Scott Polar Research Institute, Portico and ULCC, and with funding from JISC, is pleased to announce the launch of the first in a series of Digital Preservation Case Notes.  The Case Notes offer straightforward examples of organisations and individuals tackling the digital preservation challenges that come from mass digitization.  The first describes the Scott Polar Research Institute's 'Freeze Frame' project.  It makes the point that short lived projects need to do some long term thinking to ensure that the benefits of digitization are robust and it describes how a short term project negotiated its way round this long term problem.

Three more case notes are planned for the immediate future, and DPC members can preview the whole set.

Click here to read the case note.

The DPC has opened a new 'Frequently Asked Questions' section of its website where members can post and answer questions on the topic of digital preservation.  Discussion around these Frequently Asked Questions have previously tended to happen on the DPC's closed discussion lists.  Putting on the website allows a wider group of people to see them and to refer back to them more easily. The new facility allows users to comment directly on the questions without having to use email.

What's New - Issue 24, April 2010

In this issue:

• What's on, and What's new
• Editorial: Ending the news-cycle that never ends - data management and the universe that turned to goo,  William Kilbride, (DPC).
• Who's who: Sixty second interview with Anusha Ranganathan, Oxford University Library Services
• One world: Inge Angevaare, Netherlands Coalition for Digital Preservation
• Your view: Commentary, questions and debate from readers

The DPC has published its response to the recent Intellectual Property Office consultation on exceptions to copyright law with a detailed discussion of how these proposals impact on digital preservation. 

In summary, the DPC warmly welcomes the proposal to permit multiple copies to be created for preservation purposes. It notes and welcomes the proposal to broaden the types of content that can qualify for this exception and welcomes the proposal that extends this exception to a wider range of institutions.

The DPC seeks a number of clarifications to ensure that perfectly reasonable preservation actions are not inadvertently inhibited. For example the Coalition want to ensure that institutions are not prevented from collaborative preservation and is concerned that attempting to restrict preservation copying to an institution’s permanent collection may interfere with perfectly laudable and reasonable rescue and appraisal efforts.

See the advocacy section of the website for more details, including the full text of our response and a link to the original consultation.

The DPC and ICON are delighted to announce the programme for the Digital Preservation Award 2010, a Conservation Award sponsored and administered by the DPC.  Preliminary details are being announced today for a competition that will open in earnest in May.  Anyone interested in nominating a project or achievement can register an expression of interest and receive the application pack as soon as it is ready - and before the official launch. More details are online from the Institute for Conservation and from the DPA2010 page.

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

‘This is the third time we’ve offered scholarships to attend DPTP.  They’re very popular and an increasingly important way for members to supplement their training budgets’, explained Richard Ovenden, Chair of the DPC.  ‘The judging panel was so impressed by the scale and quality of the response that they asked if we could extend the number of grants available. Given the clear evidence of demand and given how hard it can be to find other sources of support we decided to offer two additional places to the three previously agreed.’

The DPC has published today its response to the recent consultation from the Department for Culture Media and Sport on 'UK Online Publications'. 

The DPC has welcomed the progress which has been made by the Legal Deposit Advisory Panel on recommendations for collecting digital material and is eager that the momentum recently achieved is maintained so that continuing progress can be made. It warmly welcomes the proposal for regulation-based harvesting and calls for early implementation of this proposal, offering the assistance of the DPC in capacity building for staff and tools which this will necessitate. In terms of access, the DPC is clear that future access to the harvested materials at any level will be impossible without the safeguards that rigorous attention to preservation provides.

Click here for more details including the full text of the response.

The DPC Leadership Programme is offering scholarship to attend the Digital Preservation Training Programme in London at the end of March.  The deadline for applications is 12th March.  See the DPC Leadership Programme for more details including a brief description of the course, elgibility and how to apply.