DPC

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) is pleased to announce the general release of a new Technology Watch Report on Preserving Geospatial Data today.

First released to DPC Members in July 2023, Preserving Geospatial Data has been authored by Meagan Snow, Geospatial Data Visualization Librarian at the Geography & Map Division of the Library of Congress. Published by the DPC in association with the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), the report is the second edition of an earlier report by Guy McGarva, Steve Morris and Greg Janée, published by the DPC in 2009. Though much of the information in this original report was still relevant, there were many updates necessary given the pace of change in the complex landscape of tools and file formats for geospatial data.

Would you like to help shape a new edition of an important, free digital preservation resource? If so, please read on!

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) is currently undertaking a project, funded by the Welsh Government Culture Division, to scope requirements for developing a new, revised 3rd Edition of the Digital Preservation Handbook (the Handbook).

The DPC is not alone in recognizing and responding to the pain and distress of civilians caught in the violent conflict in Gaza, both Israeli and Palestinian. We have watched with compassion and horror the growing humanitarian crises and the many personal tragedies which have unfolded. We condemn atrocities whoever has committed them, and we are moved by scenes of unimaginable suffering to call for a complete cessation of violence.

The DPC's mandate – a sustainable future for our digital assets – compels us to have a particular concern to ensure the preservation of the digital cultural and scientific record. We are therefore profoundly distressed by reports of the destruction of the Central Archives of Gaza, of the main public library of Gaza, of the displacement of staff who manage and preserve the cultural and scientific heritage of the region, and of the suffering inflicted on them and their families.

Drawing on our own mandate, we add our voice to those of ICA, IFLA, UNESCO, ICOM and others to reiterate to all parties the terms of the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols. These documents make plain that cultural heritage, including the digital record, is irreplaceable. Therefore the spaces and institutions associated with cultural property must not become a theatre of war, and the professionals who safeguard it must be afforded the full protection of international law.

Knowing also that peace, justice and truth are aligned, we celebrate those who create and preserve the digital record of our turbulent times. Insofar as it is in our power, we extend to them our full professional support and recognition.

At the end of January 2023 the DPC contacted its Members to find out who would be interested in joining a new DPC Working Group for Museums and Galleries. We had a lot of interest - in fact even from Members who we weren’t aware were looking after collections of this nature. The group now has members from Australia, USA, UK and the Netherlands.

We held our first meeting in March 2023 and have met for an hour every other month since. Though we only advertise our meetings to those who are signed up for the group, we are keen that learnings from our discussions are more broadly shared with the wider digital preservation community. This blog post intends to do just that by summarizing the activities of our first year.

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) is pleased to offer a Career Development Fund grant for a DPC member to attend the Society for Imaging Science and Technology (IS&T) Archiving 2024 Conference (#Archiving2024) taking place 9-12 April 2024 in Washington, DC, USA.

This grant will cover 100% of the conference registration fees and provide a contribution towards travel and accommodation. More details are provided below. Grant applications are welcomed from DPC members until the application deadline of 07:00 UTC on 30th January 2024. 

The DPC's Supporters programme is open to those organizations who provide tools and services to the digital preservation community. An up-to-date list of Supporters and further details of our programme can be found here.

Supporters are typically very familiar with the procurement process - either through sitting on the opposite side of it, or by working alongside the organization who is procuring (for example as a consultant). Like you, they are keen that the process of procurement, and the steps that are taken once procurement is complete, are as painless and straightforward as possible.

The DPC provide regular opportunities for Members to hear from Supporters in our annual Digital Preservation Futures webinar series and Supporter panels. Look out for these in our events programme. You may also explore previous sessions by following the links below:

• A Supporter panel session held in October 2023 was called “So I’ve finally procured a digital preservation system, now what?”. During this event, Supporters gave lightening talks offering advice and thoughts on what makes a smooth implementation. A recording of this session is available on the event page here (DPC Members and Supporters log in to access this). 

• Jenny Mitcham also wrote up a top ten list of tips that emerged from the session above as a blog post - “So I’ve finally procured a digital preservation system, now what?”: Takeaways from DPC Supporter panel.

• In our latest Digital Preservation Futures Webinar Series (2023) each Supporter organisation introduced their digital preservation offering, before either inviting the reflections of a customer guest speaker or by discussing key issues related to DPC Member needs through a dialogue with DPC staff and attendees (DPC Members and Supporters log in to access this).