The digital preservation community is invited to submit nominations of at-risk digital materials to the 2023 edition of the ‘Bit List’ by Friday 30th June, next week.
A free-to-access and open resource for digital preservation advocacy, the DPC's Global Bit List of Endangered Digital Species (or Bit List for short) is a community-sourced list of at-risk digital materials which is revised every two years. Entries to the list are nominated by the community, who are at the forefront of digital preservation efforts, and reviewed by international organizations which represent global expertise in the preservation of the listed digital species.
By compiling and maintaining the Bit List, the DPC aims to equip digital preservation practitioners with independent evidence that digital materials are critically endangered, and that action is required, in order to support their targeted advocacy efforts.
"One of the most impactful things about using the Bit List in this way was that I was able to demonstrate risk by pointing to an independently verified resource… rather than staff just hearing from me that these digital materials were at risk," explains Bryony Hooper at the University of Sheffield in her recent Byte-sized Bit List blog post.
Current entries include content types like social media or specific file formats; media types like floppy disks or obsolete optical media; or data from specific contexts like politically sensitive content or community archives which are not at risk for any technical reason but reside in unstable contexts. Nominations to the Bit List 2023 could combine any or all of these themes.
MAKE YOUR NOMINATION TO THE BIT LIST BY FRIDAY 30TH JUNE.
To read more about how DPC members like the University of Sheffield have used the Bit List to support their own advocacy activities, visit the DPC Blog where we will publish a ‘Byte-sized Bit List’ post every month until WDPD.
Have you used the Bit List in a business case, presentation or bid to help make the case for digital preservation action? The DPC would love to hear your story, please contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Join the conversation on social media about the Global Bit List of Endangered Digital Species using the hashtag #DPCBitList and #WDPD2023.