Links

The Digital Preservation Coalition is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Members of the DPC

A list of Members with links to individual organisation websites can be found at List of Members

Discussion Lists

Digital Preservation Discussion List

A digital-preservation email list has been established on Jiscmail.

This list carries announcements and information on activities relevant to the preservation and management of digital materials. This is the main source for disseminating news on the DPC and JISC digital preservation programmes and projects, as well as related initiatives.

It is intended to be a moderated low-traffic announcement and current awareness list of selected key initiatives and developments in the field of digital preservation of interest to archivists, curators, data creators, librarians and records managers both within higher education and related sectors.

Previous messages posted to the list are accessible from the list archive.

The archive and a joining the list web-form is available at: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/digital-preservation.html

DPC Discussion List

The DPC-DISCUSSION list is a closed discussion list for DPC members and allies only. It is used to disseminate regular reports on the DPC work programme.

padiforum-l is a moderated discussion list administered by the National Library of Australia for the exchange of news and ideas about digital preservation issues. Subscribers are encouraged to post digital preservation news, including announcements of forthcoming events, to padiforum-l. Discussion on all aspects of preserving access to digital information is also welcome.

For joining instructions, go to padiforum: http://listserver.nla.gov.au/wws/info/padiforum-l

Allied Organisations

Archiving 2006

Date: Thursday 22nd - 25th May, 2006
Venue: Library Archives of Canada, Ottawa, Canada
2006 IS&T Conference Call for Papers (PDF 12MB) and further information available from the website Archiving 2006

European Taskforce on Permanent Access

The EU conference Permanent Access to the Records of Science was held in the Hague on 1 November 2004. Although primarily concerned with the physical and life sciences its coverage was across many areas of knowledge (science in the widest sense and in European usage). The participants agreed to a series of conclusions and recommendations. To maintain momentum from the conference and achieve maximum progress with these recommendations, the KB was asked to set up a European Task Force for Permanent Access, which started its work early in 2005.

The Task Force first concentrated on developing a Research and Development Agenda, to be presented to the European Commission as a contribution to the discussions on the forthcoming Seventh Framework Programme. Secondly, it worked on developing proposals for a Strategic Action Plan and for an Alliance of European organisations committed to establishing an infrastructure for permanent access to scientific information (including all disciplines from physical, biological, or environmental sciences, to social sciences and humanities).

Further details on the work of the Taskforce are available from http://tfpa.kb.nl/

National Library of Australia

The DPC and NLA have signed a memorandum of understanding to work collaboratively on digital preservation activities and dissemination. PADI is a highly recommended international gateway for digital preservation developed by the National Library of Australia (NLA) with the guidance of an international advisory group.

The DPC and NLA jointly compile a quarterly 'What's New in Digital Preservation' electronic digest of selected new items added to PADI and to the JISCmail Digital-Preservation list.

In addition to pointing to padiforum-l, PADI's own discussion list for the exchange of news and ideas about digital preservation issues, PADI will also provide a direct link to the Digital-Preservation list archive from its News and Discussion area.

The Preservation Management of Digital Materials handbook - a selective, peer-reviewed, cross-sectoral introduction and guide to best practice in digital preservation - was published in October 2001. The DPC now provides and maintains an electronic edition online. This includes the PADI search function as an addition to the Exemplars and Further Reading sections of the Handbook. In future users of both PADI and the Preservation Management of Digital Materials will benefit from the shared expertise of the NLA and DPC in writing and reviewing selected topics of interest to both resources.

The NLA currently coordinates and maintains the PADI safekeeping initiative to promote the permanent preservation of selected significant digital preservation resources. As part of this initiative, the DPC will work to ensure long-term preservation of the archives of its Digital-Preservation list and the DPC web pages. It will also contribute to the shared annual selection of new digital preservation resources for this initiative. Commenced in mid-2001, the safekeeping project aims to cooperatively build a distributed and permanent collection of digital resources from the field of digital preservation. All resources incorporated in this project have been selected from the PADI subject gateway. This project has received financial support from the Council on Library and Information Services (CLIR). Its website is located at: http://www.nla.gov.au/padi/safekeeping/safekeeping.html

Both organisations will provide appropriate acknowledgements to each other for contributions made under our MOU.

National Preservation Office

The aim of the National Preservation Office is to work in the broadest possible partnership to ensure a planned approach to preservation management for long term access to collections throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland. To achieve this it works with preservation practitioners, collection managers, and in partnership with a broad range of organisations engaged in collection care.

The Digital Preservation Coalition and the National Preservation Office recognise their complementary roles and common interests in ensuring long term access to digital resources and collections. A Memorandum of Understanding has been drawn up in order to provide a cohesive and independent focus for their specific and joint activities.

In drawing up a Memorandum of Understanding both organisations agreed to work together to ensure the preservation and long term access to digital materials and their analogue counterparts. In so doing the DPC and NPO seek to forge a close partnership to avoid duplication of effort in addressing issues of concern to both organisations for the benefit of the communities they serve. It is specifically agreed that:

• The DPC will lead on the development, co-ordination, and supporting actions for digital preservation strategies in the UK and related activities within an international context
• The NPO is an Allied Organisation of the DPC and its Director will be a member of the DPC Advisory Council
• The NPO and the DPC collaborate in the promotion of formal education and vocational training for collection care
• The DPC and the NPO will work in partnership on events and publications to ensure awareness amongst preservation practitioners of agreed best practices for collection care
• The NPO will advise on issues relating to conservation and handling of original materials within proposed digitisation initiatives and projects
• Both organisations give each other appropriate acknowledgement in collaborative activities and appropriate referrals to each other for their respective roles and activities.

The Library of Congress

The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program of the Library of Congress (NDIIPP) was established after Congress gave approval to the Library of Congress to develop the program in December 2000. In January 2004, Congress approved the Library of Congress's plan for NDIIPP, which will enable the Library of Congress to launch the first phase of building a national infrastructure for the collection and long-term preservation of digital content. Funds released will allow testing various technical models for capturing and preserving content.

Laura Campbell, Associate Librarian for Strategic Initiatives, Library of Congress, and Lynne Brindley, Director of the British Library and Chair of the DPC, sign the agreement.

An Editor's Interview with Laura Campbell appeared in the June 2003 issue of RLG DigiNews.

A hallmark of NDIIPP and the DPC has always been to work collaboratively with others so it was a logical step for the two organisations to agree to work together. The occasion of the DPC Forum held in June 2004 provided an opportunity for Laura Campbell and Lynne Brindley to formally sign the document committing the two organisations to work together, which had already been agreed to in principle. The agreement foreshadows keeping each other informed of relevant developments and working together on specific working groups as the need arises.

Related Organisations

The Digital Curation Centre (DCC)

http://www.dcc.ac.uk/

The DCC has been funded by two full members of the Digital Preservation Coalition, JISC and the e-Science Core Programme for £1.3m p.a for an initial period of three years, and was formally announced in February 2004. The DCC comprises a consortium consisting of the University of Edinburgh (lead partner); the University of Glasgow; UKOLN at the University of Bath; and the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils(which operate the Rutherford and Daresbury Laboratories). The DCC is not a repository but has been established to support expertise and practice in digital Curation and preservation, prompting collaboration between the Universities and the Research Councils to ensure that there is continuing access to data of scholarly interest. The Digital Curation Centre is a full member of the DPC.

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) Digital Preservation and Records Management Programme

http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=programme_preservation

The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) was not only one of the founding members of the Digital Preservation Coalition, but also provided support to initially establish the organisation as a legal entity. Neil Beagrie was the first company secretary for the Coalition when it became a company limited by guarantee in July 2002. As a Committee of the UK Higher Education and Funding Councils, the JISC serves 200 Higher Education Institutions and over 500 Further Education Institutions across the UK. It has been actively involved in digital preservation for several years and has done much to encourage and facilitate good practice. Successful proposals from the JISC 4/04 Call for Supporting Institutional Digital Preservation and Digital asset Management are available from
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=programme_404

Analysis of Training Needs Report
http://www.jisc.ac.uk/index.cfm?name=programme_preservation

NESTOR: Network of Expertise in Long-Term Storage of Digital Resources

http://www.langzeitarchivierung.de/index.php

The project's objective is to create a network of expertise in digital preservation for Germany. As the perspective of current and future archive users is central to the project, the emphasis is put on long-term accessibility of digital resources rather than pure preservation aspects. The project includes, among other things, a web-based information forum, recommendations for certification procedures of digital repositories, recommendations for collecting guidelines and selection criteria of digital resources to be archived and guidelines for the long-term preservation of digital resources. The long-term goal is a permanent distributed infrastructure for long-term preservation and long-term accessability of digital resources in Germany.

To open PDFs you will need Adobe Reader (version 5 or later) - click on the logo:

Key Reports

NSF Cyberinfrastructure Vision and Strategic Plan (February 2006)
An updated version of the NSF Cyberinfrastructure Vision and Strategic Plan is now available for comment. This includes a considerable amount of new detail on NSF's thinking about data management and curation not present in earlier versions of the document. The document can be found at
http://www.nsf.gov/od/oci/ci_v5.pdf
Comments are solicited, and should be sent by email to ciinput@nsf.gov

ARL Endorses Call for Action to Preserve E-Journals
http://www.arl.org/arl/pr/presvejrnloct05.html

An Audit Checklist for the Certification of Trusted Digital Repositories. Comments on the draft are invited by January 2006.
http://www.rlg.org/en/page.php?Page_ID=20769

Digital Preservation and Permanent Access to Scientific Information: The State of the Practice. CENDI - 2004-3. Updated February 04, 2005.
http://cendi.dtic.mil/publications/04-3dig_preserv.html

Solicitation of Public Comments on a Draft US National Science Board Report
The National Science Board (NSB, the Board) invites public comments on the draft report, Long-Lived Digital Data Collections: Enabling Research and Education in the 21st Century (NSB-05-40).
The draft report may be viewed and downloaded from the NSB Web site
(http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/meetings/2005/
LLDDC_draftreport.pdf).
The draft report provides the findings and recommendations of the Board on Long-Lived Digital Data Collections. The report arises from the recognition by the Board of the growing importance of digital data collections in research and education and their potential for broadening participation at all levels. It is intended by the Board as a first step in undertaking a broader discussion of the issues.
The Board plans to discuss public comments and revisions to this document in May 2005.
Comments should be addressed to NSBExecOfficer@nsf.gov by May 1, 2005.

House of Commons Science and Technology Committee: "Scientific publications: free for all? Tenth Report of Session 2003-04." HC 399-1, Stationery Office, 2004 is available online as html or pdf from publications and reports section at:
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmsctech.htm

The PREMIS group recently published a report of findings from a survey they undertook, Implementing Preservation Repositories for Digital Materials: Current Practice and Emerging Trends in the Cultural Heritage Community. Some DPC members participated in this survey. The report is available from the PREMIS website at:
http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/pmwg/