Digital Preservation Working Group

This group is currently on hiatus.

Documentation

Established

January 2016

Charge

This working group will continue the work begun by its predecessor group in FY16, which conducted an environmental scan of Alliance members’ digital preservation statuses and practices. That group observed that is a strong interest in digital preservation at the Alliance that merits the development and delivery of high-level preservation education, basic infrastructure to support digital preservation at the Alliance, and a preliminary investigation of the cost and feasibility of supporting shared geographically distributed storage for digital archival content from Alliance members.
Specifically, the group will:

  • Provide web-delivered or in-person education and assistance with the following:Integrating the creation and checking of fixity information into workflows, including providing information on available tools, as well as when/how and where/how to store information, and how to record and store transformation metadata.
  • Create or point to existing digital preservation training kits online, and develop checklists/quickstart guides for Alliance institutions looking to improve their digital preservation practices. This work should include:
    • A template for a digital preservation plan.
    • Quick / High Level Digital Preservation FAQ what it is/isn’t and why it is important. The group should point to other available resources rather than focusing their work on introductory education.
  • Create basic infrastructure to support digital preservation at the Alliance:
    • Create a sustainable and easily updated piece of the Documentation Center that lists which institutions have readers of obsolete file formats.
    • Create a sustainable and easily updated lists of tools for various tasks and contacts at institutions using them in the Documentation Center.
    • Create a sustainable and easily updated list of digitization vendors and who has used them.
    • Determine which institutions and individuals have digital preservation expertise. This information will most likely be contributed to the Collaborative Workforce’s expertise inventory.
  • Conduct a preliminary investigation the cost and feasibility of establishing shared geographically distributed storage for digital archival content from Alliance members. While it is not anticipated that the Alliance would move toward offering this service immediately, having a preliminary/high-level sense of cost and feasibility is of long-term strategic importance for supporting digital preservation at the Alliance.

Timeline

  • The timeline for this group’s work can be determined by its members and communicated to the CCD Team and CCD Program Manager through the chair.

Skills

  • In-depth knowledge of digital preservation practices, existing resources, and national and international standards.
  • Experience gathering resources, developing training, and delivering it, primarily online.

Type of Group and General Comments

Teams can form ad hoc working groups that are chaired by a team member with membership drawn from staff at member libraries. Selected working groups might also include non-members. For example, a working group concerned with the courier might include non-member participants. Joint Working Groups may be formed by the Board and assigned to a lead team.