The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) welcomes Indiana University Libraries (IU Libraries) this week, as they become the Coalition’s newest Associate Member.
Based on Indiana University’s flagship campus at Bloomington, Indiana, IU Libraries is the largest research library system in the state and serves not only its students, faculty, and alumni, but all residents of Indiana and many researchers from around the world. In collaboration with its many campus partners, IU Libraries have undertaken a number of innovative and ambitious digitization projects over the past few years, most notably the Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative. Nearly 20 petabytes of digital preservation data were produced in this multi-year project that digitally reformatted over 350,000 audio, video, and film assets from IU’s university-wide holdings, many on degrading or obsolete media formats.
Committed to meeting the challenges of long-term stewardship, preservation and access to this, and other born-digital digital content, IU Libraries have created a mandate and policy to understand digital preservation and are currently piloting systems to ensure the long-term stability of their growing digital collections.
“Indiana University has a long history of work in digital preservation, particularly in the context of time-based media such as audio and video,” explains Jon Dunn, Assistant Dean for Library Technologies, Indiana University Libraries, Indiana University Bloomington.
“Becoming a member of the DPC will allow us to better learn from and contribute to the broader global digital preservation community and to help advance the cause of digital preservation to sustain access to research and cultural heritage for future generations.”
Indiana University Libraries join the Coalition as the DPC shares exciting news that it is extending its global presence to the Americas. With an organizational home provided by USA-based ITHAKA, a new DPC-dedicated member of staff will be recruited to support and expand the established and existing digital preservation community in the region; complementing, celebrating and sustaining their activities and amplifying them for the benefit of the DPC’s global membership. Recruitment will begin in the coming weeks.
After a period of planning and development, the DPC plans to deliver a program of face-to-face events for members in the Americas, as well as facilitating knowledge exchange between organizations in the region through briefing days, working groups, and task forces.
Jane Winters, Chair of the DPC Board, welcomed the news saying: “We are delighted that Indiana University Libraries has joined the DPC at this exciting time. Their membership comes as the DPC is working hard to support its Members around the world, and to enhance its offering in the Americas. We recognize digital preservation as a global challenge and are seeking to build a coalition which is scaled to the challenge.”
As an Associate Member of the DPC, Indiana University Libraries will join the DPC’s new Americas Stakeholder Group, formed as part of its governance structure to ensure that Members in the region have the opportunity to inform the development of the DPC’s Americas program and have input to the broader strategic direction of the Coalition.
The DPC is an international charitable foundation which supports digital preservation, helping its members around the world to deliver resilient long-term access to digital content and services through community engagement, targeted advocacy work, training and workforce development, capacity building, good practice and standards, and through good management and governance. Its vision is a secure digital legacy.
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