Just one week after the Digital Preservation Coalition launched its new Commercial Supporter programme, Arkivum have announced their commitment to creating long-term meaningful relationships between DPC members and commercial solution providers by becoming the latest organisation to join the scheme.

The new Commercial Supporter Programme is good news for vendors, who already contribute much needed perspectives into the DPC’s discussions on an ad hoc basis; and for members by enabling much greater insight into their needs and requirements. The DPC’s Board recognises the need for an environment where solution providers and members can collaborate and learn from each other, whilst protecting the independence gained from a widely-understood vendor neutrality.

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Introduction

Roughly weekly/monthly news and opinions from the Digital Preservation Coalition’s Head of Research and Practice, Paul Wheatley. Opinions are the opinions of Paul and those featured. Not the DPC. They’re just opinions, ok? Just because the blog has moved to the official DPC website does not mean this isn't just a load of opinions. Back issues are here.

Welcome to a new era. Post-truth. Alternative facts. The 2017 that the pretty awful 2016 appears to have just been a gentle warm up for. And I suspect it's going to get pretty hot. As Terry Pratchett once said - there is light at the end of the tunnel, but it's a flamethrower.  But fear not dear reader. Although the DPC has a brand spanking new website to which Digital Preservation News has moved, the usual pedantry, gentle snark and (hopefully) useful digipres news is not going anywhere.

In uncertain times, some stability and permanence is reassuring. In a post-truth era, it's absolutely vital. So, my digipres friends, we've got our work cut out. Let's go to it...

Over the last three years, the partners of the E-ARK Project have worked together to develop and test specifications and tools for the creation and management of information packages for preservation. Around this work they have also been busily undertaking complementary research and resource creation, resulting in a wide variety of new and improved practical solutions for those undertaking digital preservation activities.

On a crisp, cold day at the beginning of December 2016, we gathered at the beautiful main building of the National Archives of Hungary in Budapest (see right) to share the results of all that hard work at our final conference. I was there on behalf of the DPC and, even as a member of the project team, I was impressed by the scope and quality of the work shared during the event.

In this blog post, through the medium of the Tweets we sent out into the wild over the two days, I hope to share some of the highlights from presentations given at the conference. The tools, resources and solutions they mention will be of interest to many DPC members and friends. More information on all the E-ARK resources mentioned below can be found on the project website: http://www.eark-project.eu.

Ancient history: how we got here

Way back in 2013 the DPC collaborated with the OPF on a project called SPRUCE. Following on from the success of another little project called AQUA, and with some very handy funding from the Jisc, we ran a bunch of mashup events and got hands on with all sorts of digital preservation challenges. The management of PDF files, and particularly risk assessment, was a recurring theme. In response, the SPRUCE project held a hackathon in Leeds where a host of DP geeks came up with a basic proof of concept for a PDF risk checker. Based on PDFBOX – a PDF/A validator – and with denizens of both Yorkshire and Canada in the room (plus a variety of other nationalities) it seemed entirely appropriate to call it PDF/Eh? For those unfamiliar with Yorkshire dialect, this probably won't help but is recommended nonetheless. A number of important elements (that would surface again in the future) were brought together at this hackathon, but the participants recognised that this would take a much bigger push and a dedicated project to do it "properly".

PDF is a preservation problem almost everyone has. It's certainly not the biggest problem out there, but it needs some work and it's a little surprising that as a community we haven't managed to nail it. PDF/A is beginning to form part of the solution but a standard needs to be adequately supported with tools. That's where veraPDF comes in.

Event Description 

This conference will:

• Provide participants with a core grounding in applied digital preservation
• Provide an overview of emerging trends in digital preservation
• Present practical examples of the sorts skills that employers are looking from in staff working in digital preservation
• Present role models of practitioners whose careers have taken them to leading positions in digital preservation
• Allow delegates to question practitioners about their day-to-day work and the skills that they reply upon

This day will be of interest to:

• Students and recent graduates in library and archive schools
• Students and recent graduates in information management and records management
• Tutors, lecturers and course convenors in library and archive schools, or who teach records management or information governance
• Innovators, vendors and commentators on digital preservation and cognate fields
• Employers seeking to understand the skills needed to operate digital preservation facilities or seeking to recruit new entrants

Programme

09:30 Registration Opens

10:00 Session One – Getting Started with Digital Preservation

• Welcome and Introduction to Digital Preservation – Sharon McMeekin, DPC
• Digital Preservation, an Information Manager’s Perspective – Steph Taylor, ULCC
• Digital Preservation, a Technologist’s Perspective – Matthew Addis, Arkivum
• Sponsor presentation: CoSector, University of London
• Sponsor presentation: Section for Archvies and Technology, Archives and Records Association

12:00 Lunch – Sandwich lunch and refreshments provided

12:45 Session Two – What I Wish I Knew Before I Started

Presentations from the following Invited Speakers on working within the Digital Preservation field.

• Adrian Brown, Parliamentary Archives
• Glenn Cumiskey, British Museum
• Jennifer Febles, HSBC
• Ann MacDonald, University of Kent
• Dave Thompson, Wellcome Collection

14:25 Comfort Break - Tea and coffee provided

14:45 Session Three – Roundtable with the Day’s Speakers

15:30 Thanks and Close

Registration

Places are strictly limited and should be booked in advance. Registration will close one week before the event and early booking is recommended as we expect the event will be popular.

Registration is free for:

• Staff and students of DPC members
• Members of the ARA
• Members of IRMS

Registration is £10 per person for all other delegates. Please register via the Eventbrite link included below, members should enter the promotional code DPCMEMBER to allow you to register for free. To check if your organisation qualifies for free attendance, please check the DPC Member List. If you have any questions about registration, please contact Sharon McMeekin (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

Register for this event on Eventbrite

Can't Make it?

We’ll publish the slides after the event and will tweet live from the event using the hashtag #DPC_WIWIK.

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The Digital Preservation Coalition launches its new Supporter programme today, with the announcement that digital preservation specialist, Preservica, has committed to partnering with the Coalition to create long-term meaningful relationships between DPC members and commercial solution providers.

This new Supporter Programme is good news for vendors, who already contribute much needed perspectives into the DPC’s discussions on an ad hoc basis; and for members, with the programme enabling much greater insight into their needs and requirements. The DPC’s Board recognises the need for an environment where solution providers and members can collaborate and learn from each other, whilst protecting the independence gained from a widely-understood vendor neutrality.

The DPC's Supporter Program is designed to facilitate better and more meaningful communication between members and solution providers on ‘neutral’ ground, and in a way that all parties work more closely, effectively and harmoniously.

The DPC’s Board recognises the need for an environment where Supporters and members can collaborate and learn from each other. Vendors and solution providers already contribute much needed commercial perspectives into the DPC’s discussions on an ad hoc basis, and Supporter status provides further insight into the requirements of our members.

Download a copy of our Supporter program for full details of the opportunities, activities and benefits planned for the next 12 months.

Costs and Benefits of Supporter Status

Supporters are asked to commit to three years’ sponsorship but may pay annually. Organisations taking up this status within the first 12 months will be eligible for an Introductory Offer as follows: 

*From August 2023, the DPC Supporter Program is accessible to agencies of all types and sizes on an equitable basis. Therefore:

• Larger agencies, such as global technology companies, conglomerates and groups, with more than 250 employees or with a listing on relevant stock market indices will be invited to participate but with a surcharge which recognises the size of the company.

• Sole traders, micro-agencies which operate on a charitable basis, and companies who offer purely open-source solutions, may apply for a discount which ensures they are able to participate equitably.

• New entrants into the digital preservation market, whether new or existing agencies, with products or services relevant to the digital preservation community may apply for a discount on a trial basis provided they can meet the other requirements.

Funds raised by DPC Supporters will be used in first instance to support grants to members for training and staff development as well as the Annual Student conference, to subsidise training workshops or to sponsor DPC membership for charities and not-for-profits.

Eligibility

The DPC Supporter program is open to organizations which have established relationships with the digital preservation community. We seek recommendations from our members about providers of digital preservation services, solutions, tools or consultancy whose values are aligned with those of the DPC. Applications for DPC Supporter status will be subject to review by the DPC Board, drawn from its members and prospective supporters will be asked for business information to ensure the fee matches the size and nature of their company.

Conditions of Support

Supporters are asked to abide by the following values and principles in their dealings with the DPC and its members. 

Supporters should: 

• Not claim their relationship with the DPC represents any kind of endorsement

• Not abuse attendance of events for commercial gain

• Recognise the need for DPC members to discuss and debate in confidence without commercial influence

• Respect that DPC governance, planning, budgeting or editorial processes is reserved for Full and Associate Members, except by invitation

 Supporters breaching these principles may have their status withdrawn with no refund of fees provided. 

Application for Supporter Status

To apply send a completed Application Form to the DPC Business Manager for assessment and approval by the DPC Board. Upon approval by the Board, the DPC will issue the relevant documentation and materials for completion.

Supporter status is subject to ongoing assessment by the DPC Board, and a review every 12 months.

Apply for Supporter Status