In an exciting finale to the Digital Preservation Awards 2020, seven winners have been celebrated for their work, as leading organisations and practitioners of digital preservation gathered together for an online presentation ceremony this World Digital Preservation Day, 5th November.
Hosted by the DPC and introduced by the Chair of Judges Laura Molloy, Senior Research Lead at CODATA, the event recognised the achievements of people and organisations who have made significant and innovative contributions to securing our digital legacy for the long-term.
Watch the recording of the Digital Preservation Awards presentation ceremony
In a year which saw the greatest and geographically diverse set of nominations to date, those selected as finalists faced tough competition from entries across the world.
Juan Bicarregui, Chair of the DPC Board, was overwhelmed by the quality of applications in 2020, saying: “The Digital Preservation Awards has once again showcased, recognised and highlighted the innovative and collaborative work by organisations from around the world. Each of the winners today is absolutely deserving of their award, as they all make a significant impact towards our common goal of securing our digital legacy.”
The event began with a new Award for Collaboration and Cooperation which celebrates significant collaboration across institutional, professional, sectoral and geographical boundaries. This was presented to the NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation Revision Project for demonstrating what the judges called ‘true collaboration and a positive impact on digital preservation.’
Seeing off entries from the UN’s League of Nations Archive, as well as joint venture between the Digital Repository of Ireland and Cornell University, the UK Web Archive claimed The Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy for their working spanning the last 15 years.
The Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Commerce, Industry and Third Sector made a return this year with two very topical entries and was deservedly won by the UNHCR Records and Archives team, who beat tough competition from the Royal College of Nursing member and public digital archives.
The Levels of Born Digital Access project scooped the highly competitive Award for Research and Innovation, while International Council on Archives’ Africa Programme was presented with the Award for Teaching and Communications for their Digital Records Curation Programme. Lotte Wijsman, who completed her thesis at the University of Amsterdam, took the prize for the Most Outstanding Student Work in Digital Preservation with her work on the Significant Properties of Spreadsheets.
2020 also saw the return of the DPC Fellowship Award which was presented to Micky Lindlar who will be known to many as an insightful and generous contributor to the digital preservation community. The award recognises Micky’s sustained personal contribution to digital preservation and their ongoing collaboration for the widest possible benefit.
Full list of 2020 Digital Preservation Award Winners
- Winner of the International Council on Archives Award for Collaboration and Cooperation, presented by Anthea Seles and Neil Grindley
NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation Revision Project
- Winner of the Software Sustainability Institute (SSI) Award for Research and Innovation, presented by Neil Chue Hong and Sally McInnes
Levels of Born Digital Access
- Winner of the Dutch Digital Heritage Network Award for Teaching and Communications, presented by Marcel Ras and Sheila Morrissey
Digital Records Curation Programme
- Winner of the National Records of Scotland (NRS) Award for the Most Distinguished Student Work in Digital Preservation, presented by Susan Corrigall and Angela Beking
Lotte Wijsman with ‘The Significant Properties of Spreadsheets: Stakeholder Analysis’
- Winner of the DPC Award for the Most Outstanding Digital Preservation Initiative in Commerce, Industry and the Third Sector, presented by Karen Sampson and Neil Jefferies
UNHCR Records and Archives
- Winner of The National Archives (UK) Award for Safeguarding the Digital Legacy, presented by John Sheridan and April Miller
UK Web Archive: celebrating 15 years
- The DPC Fellowship Award, presented by Richard Ovenden
Micky Lindlar
The DPC would like to thank all sponsors for their continued support in ensuring the Digital Preservation Awards can continue to recognise and celebrate achievements in the field of digital preservation.
For a full list of finalists and for more information about the Digital Preservation Awards, visit: https://dpconline.org/events/digital-preservation-awards