WDPD2025
Articles
A Better Way: Why Preserve
William Kilbride is the Executive Director of the Digital Preservation Coalition and writes this blog to officially close World Digital Preservation Day 2025 The sun has set on Hawaii and Rarotonga and so it’s time to bring the curtain down on World Digital Preservation Day 2025. It’s also time to draw a close to the week of the iPRES Conference which has been hosted this year in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand. World Digital Preservation Day was introduced in 2017 to...
Preserving the Past with Purpose
Alison L. Joseph is Director of Digital Scholarship at Gratz College As a library professional and academic, I love books! I think my husband of 18 years is still shocked by the number of books I brought into our marriage. Currently, we share a home office with bookshelves lining the walls. His books fill one set of shelves, while my books overflow the remaining shelves. There’s nothing quite like holding a physical book or browsing a shelf for a well-known volume by the colors...
Why preserve - and then what?
Nance McGovern is Associate for Digital Preservation Practice and Instruction at Global Archivist LLC and a DPC Fellow Happy World Digital Preservation Day 2025! The most wonderful day of the year for the digital preservation community. And this year WDPD coincides with iPres – even better. This year’s topic: “Why Preserve?” is making me nostalgic – conjuring up relevant experiences as a practicing archivist over more than four decades.
Why Preserve? A WDPD 2025 Vlog from Kelly Stewart, Artefactual Systems
Kelly Stewart is Chief Archivist at Artefactual Systems, a DPC Supporter For World Digital Preservation Day 2025, we invited DPC Members and Supporters to share their reflections on this year’s theme, “Why Preserve?”. As part of this series, Kelly Stewart of Artefactual Systems offers her perspective on the importance of safeguarding our digital heritage. Watch Kelly's vlog below to hear her thoughts!
The Ohio State University Libraries: Why We Preserve
This year World Digital Preservation Day, November 6, 2025, coincides with the final day of iPRES 2025, the international digital preservation conference. The prompt for WDPD 2025, “Why preserve?” For The Ohio State University Libraries, we preserve the history of the University along with specialized collecting areas that enhance the mission and educational programs of the University. This year, as I draft this between sessions at iPRES in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, I would like to...
World Digital Preservation Day: Why Preserve?
Stephen Abrams, PhD, is Head of Digital Preservation at Harvard Library World Digital Preservation Day is an annual event sponsored by the Digital Preservation Coalition to bring international attention to the critical challenges and opportunities of digital preservation stewardship. The theme of this year’s celebration is Why Preserve? This question has particular relevance right now given the sea change so many of us are experiencing in our...
Keeping Our Digital Memories Alive — Celebrating World Digital Preservation Day at HSBC
This blog post was co-authored by James Mortlock, Jennifer Febles, Jennifer Pearson, Katie Kettle: the Digital Archives team at HSBC HSBC's archive is a well-established global department within the Group Brand function. Founded in Hong Kong in 1865, our bank’s collections go back as far as the late 18th century and include many predecessor organisations. While we have physical archival storage vaults in London, Hong Kong, and Paris, our expanding digital collections are housed in a...
Why do I preserve…?
Paul Stokes is Jisc - Subject Matter Expert (Digital Preservation), Director of the Digital Preservation Coalition; Chair of the DPC Advocacy and Community Engagement sub-committee; Director of the Open Preservation Foundation; Director of OPF NL. Why do I preserve…? That’s a surprisingly difficult question to answer (especially when you take into account that my day job is 100% digital preservation focused). There are all sorts of glib, business casey type answers to that...
Why Preserve? Exact Editions’ Unlocking of Illustrated Periodicals
Ellie Burnage works for publisher Exact Editions based in the UK The theme of World Digital Preservation Day 2025 asks ‘Why Preserve?’ It’s a big question, with numerous and far-reaching answers. Preservation, as its core, safeguards cultural memory by ensuring that stories, ideas and knowledge remain accessible to future generations. But there are other benefits too, from ensuring digital resilience in an era defined by ever-changing technological developments to opening up new...
Why Preserve? Answers on the back of a postcard!
Helen Dafter is Archivist at The Postal Museum Why Preserve? That’s a big question and there are as many answers as there are organisations carrying out preservation activities. My answer is we preserve for future use. How far into the future and who will be using the material may vary, but there is no point in preserving anything unless there is a reasonable expectation of it being used. I’ve been considering our existing digital collections and how these have been or may be used....
OLD LADY, NEW TRICKS
Helena Clarkson is Project Digital Archivist at Bank of England Preserving Digital Records at the Bank Every November, World Digital Preservation Day gives archives and libraries a chance to spotlight the importance of actively preserving digital content. In this blog, Helena Clarkson shares how the Archive Team has been working to protect born-digital records—to ensure that all forms of historic records, not just the physical, remain accessible in the digital age. As technology...
World Digital Preservation Day 2025 Vlog: Why Preserve? – University of the Arts London
Elisabeth Thurlow is the Digital Preservation and Access Manager at University of the Arts London For World Digital Preservation Day 2025, we invited DPC Members and Supporters to share their reflections on this year’s theme, “Why Preserve?”. As part of this series, Elisabeth Thurlow at University of the Arts London shares her reflections on why digital preservation matters. Watch the vlog to hear her thoughts!
SIX New French Translations Expand Global Access to Digital Preservation Guidance
[Voir ci-dessous pour la version française]To mark World Digital Preservation Day 2025, the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) is delighted to announce the release of six new French translations of DPC resources, thanks to the generous efforts of volunteer translators from Cellule Nationale de Vielle sur les Formats! This work was coordinated under the French association Aristote and its working group on the Preservation of Digital Information (PIN). These...
Why preserve? The UKERC Energy Data Centre team contemplates…
This blog post is co-authored by Catherine Jones, Peter Holt, Oliver Brough and Vivek Mistry at the UKERC Energy Data Centre at UKRI STFC The Energy Data Centre’s vision is “Access to energy information for now and the future”, so its purpose is to preserve the research data and grey literature that is deposited within the service. The team are usually busy doing preservation activities rather than thinking deep thoughts. However, this World Preservation Day’s theme...
The Global Bit List of Endangered Digital Materials: An Imperative to Safeguard Our Digital Legacy
Across every sector - government, culture, industry, academia, media, and community - digital materials are at-risk of extinction. On World Digital Preservation Day 2025, the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) has published a new version of the Global ‘Bit List’ of Endangered Digital Materials, which reveals the urgent need for coordinated action to prevent irreversible loss. With tailormade messages for key sectors, the Bit List encourages the digital preservation community to push...
Discover Why Preserve? in This WDPD 2025 Vlog from the University of Warwick
Rachel MacGregor, Digital Preservation Officer, and Eren Delaney, Digital Preservation Specialist, at the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick For World Digital Preservation Day 2025, we invited DPC Members and Supporters to share their reflections on this year’s theme, “Why Preserve?”. As part of this series, Rachel MacGregor and Eren Delaney offer the Modern Records Centre's perspective on the importance of safeguarding our digital heritage. Watch the vlog below to hear...
Starting with Why...
Simon Wilson is Archives Consultant at Simon P. Wilson Consultancy As an archives consultant I have the privilege of working with a wide range of organisations facing different challenges and opportunities. Much of this work tends to remain behind the scenes but I wanted to share a few reflections from current and recent client projects relating to the question of Why preserve?
Digital Preservation Steps at the Science Museum Group & Why (We Want To) Preserve
Somaya Langley is Digital Preservation Manager at the Science Museum Group The Science Museum Group (SMG) cares for over seven million collection objects and items, many of outstanding national and international significance. Our collection tells the story of our world, charting the development and history of science, technology, engineering, media, and medicine through many centuries. Situated across England, we provide access to the public through our five museums...
Hit Play on this WDPD2025 vlog: This is Why CERN Preserves!
Jean-Yves Le Meur is the Digital Memory Project Leader at CERN and Danae Broustail is an Openlab Summer Student at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) For World Digital Preservation Day 2025, we invited DPC Members and Supporters to share their reflections on this year’s theme, “Why Preserve?”. As part of this series, Jean-Yves Le Meur and Danae Broustail created a vlog with CERN's perspective on the great importance of digital preservation. Watch their vlog...
Why Preserve? Safeguarding Middle Eastern Heritage in the Digital Age
Irina Schmid, Instructor and Digital Collections Archivist, works at the American University in Cairo. A reflection from the Digitization Center at American University in Cairo on World Digital Preservation Day Imagine a graduate student in São Paulo discovering a 19th-century Arabic poem that perfectly captures her research question. A historian in Tokyo finding administrative records that illuminate Ottoman trade networks. A teenager in Detroit exploring her family's...