DPC

The DPC and the Archives and Records Association are pleased to invite students and researchers in archives, records management and librarianship to a half day conference on practical workplace skills in digital preservation.  Hosted by University College London, and organised in partnership with the Universities of Aberystwyth and Dundee, this mini-conference will bring a select group of leading practitioners together with the next generation of archivists, records managers and ibrarians to discuss the challenges of digital collections management and digital preservation.  In a lively set of presentations and discussions, each of the speakers will be invited to reflect on 'the things I wish I knew before I started', or 'what I actually do all day'  giving students an advantage in their own career development, and helping those who frame the curriculum a chance to extend their students' readiness for the workplace.

Outline Programme 

1400-1405 Welcome and introduction – Jenny Bunn/ Caroline Brown

1405-1420 What’s the problem with digital preservation – William Kilbride

1420-1435 Helen Hockx-Yu – Web archiving at the British Library

1450-1505 Dave Thompson  - Digital Curator at the Wellcome Library

1505-1520 Patricia Sleeman – Digital archivist at University of London Computer Centre

1520-1535 Adrian Brown – Head of Preservation & Access, Parliamentary Archives

1535-1550 Simon Rooks – Multi-media Archivist BBC

1550-1615 Coffee

1615-1700 Roundtable discussion with all speakers chaired by Caroline Peach (British Library Preservation Advisory Centre)

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to announce the release of ‘Digital Forensics and Preservation’ by Jeremy Leighton John of the British Library – the latest in its popular Technology Watch Report series.

‘Digital forensics is associated in many people’s minds primarily with criminal investigations’, explained the author, ‘but forensic methods have emerged as an essential source of tools and approaches for digital preservation, specifically for protecting and investigating evidence from the past.’ 

The Digital Preservation Coalition is today publishing the latest in its popular Technology Watch Reports ‘Intellectual Property Rights for Digital Preservation’ by Andrew Charlesworth of the University of Bristol.

Legal issues, in particular the process of obtaining copyright clearance for preservation and access of archived material, can contribute significantly to the cost and complexity of digital preservation. It is an area where the wider preservation community often needs to make its case with government and other legislators.

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) marks its landmark tenth year anniversary of its establishment at a reception at the Palace of Westminster today.

At this event, DPC Chairman Richard Ovenden and Lord MacNally, Minister of State for Justice, will celebrate the achievements of the Digital Preservation Coalition over the past ten years, but will also highlight the continuing risk to government, business, educational and cultural organisations and by society at large in failing to address the preservation of digital information. In his speech, Richard Ovenden points to major improvements that have been made in the past ten years but highlights recent studies which show how major data losses continue to be suffered:

Widely-distributed, highly-volatile and tightly-integrated data streams create a particular challenge for preservation. One could be forgiven for thinking that digital preservation was principally concerned with safeguarding of self-contained packets of information that may have interdependencies but which are so carefully tucked into stand-alone files that they have a sort of independence and autonomy which ensures their integrity. This has never been the case. Nonetheless recent developments in data presentation have shown the potential that can be gained from liberating data from clumsy format wrappers and enabling retrieval and integration of individual data points. The emerging 'Linked Data' approach enables new types of interaction with and between structured data and it challenges existing paradigms of data sharing. It also challenges us to think about preservation in new ways: it creates the potential for long chains of interdependencies and it means we need to think all the more carefully about provenance and authenticity. The question arises as to whether Linked Data will simply deliver a new generation of broken links – stifling the innovation it promises and creating the conditions for new and avoidable forms of disenfranchisement.

The schedule and outline for a new DPC Technology Watch Report on Web Archiving is now available for consultation by members.  The full report is due for publication at the start of 2013. To see the outline, you first need to login or register, then download the outline.

Resilience is an increasingly important topic in the provision of digital services. Digital technology offers the prospect of '24/7' services, a model which can only be sustained through constant monitoring and planning to ensure continuity of service. Increasing demands on the networks, increasing concerns about security, and increasing economic and social consequences from their failure, makes resilience a pressing concern. Business continuity planning continually refines and extends these protections to ensure that the right services are supplied to the right people at the right time.

Who should come?

The Digital Preservation Coalition and Charles Beagrie Limited are delighted to announce the continuation of their collaboration, producing 3 more Technology Watch Reports.

 ‘5 Technology Watch Reports have already been produced – or are in production – and have been enthusiastically received by our members’, said William Kilbride of the DPC.  The next three will ensure that the production process continues through 2013 with themes and topics proposed and refined by DPC members to help them with digital preservation.’

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the University of Manchester Library as its newest member.

'The University of Manchester Library has a strong interest in digital preservation at both a strategic and operational level,' explained Sandra Bracegirdle. 'We have recently carried out a significant review of our digital preservation work as we see this as a key issue for the Library. '

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome Royal Museums Greenwich as its newest member.

Richard Ferguson, Documentation Manager, Royal Museums Greenwich said 'Having the opportunity to join a community of practice which has a focus on addressing and developing greater understanding of the challenges of digital preservation is most timely.'