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NEH POWRR Preservation Workshops

The Digital POWRR (Preserving digital Objects with Restricted Resources) Project has moved into a new phase that extends the reach of the POWRR Preservation Workshops. Thanks to the funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access, the POWRR project will conduct a minimum of six workshops across the country over the course of 2015-2016 to continue providing practical, hands-on solutions for information professionals from small and under-funded institutions looking to begin digital preservation practices. Project staff will continue to revise and fine-tune curriculum in response to participant feedback and new developments in this rapidly-changing field. Previous team members will continue to serve as the staff and instructors for the workshops. The POWRR Project will also have a limited number of travel bursaries available to under-represented institutions in need of assistance traveling to the workshops.

This new phase of the POWRR Project has been made possible in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence.

IMLS Digital POWRR Project - Preserving Digital Objects With Restricted Resources

While many larger institutions have made considerable headway on digital preservation, many medium and smaller sized institutions have struggled to make similar progress, largely due to a lack of economy of scale. This project will investigate, evaluate, and, at its close, recommend scalable, sustainable digital preservation solutions for libraries with smaller amounts of data and/or fewer resources. Working closely with nationally recognized standards-based vendors of digital preservation solutions, the project will also investigate potential business models that would provide equitable access to digital preservation to libraries of all sizes. The Northern Illinois University Libraries will carry out this research with a board of advisors and partner libraries at Chicago State University, Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, and Western Illinois University.

Read the White Paper here: [1]

Project Staff

• Project Investigator: Lynne Thomas (Curator, Rare Books/Special Collections)
• Project Investigator: Drew Vandecreek (Director of Digital Initiatives and Co-Director, Digital Convergence Lab)
• Project Investigator: Jaime Schumacher (Director of Scholarly Communications)
• Project Director: Danielle Spalenka
• Technical Coordinator: Stacey Erdman (Digital Collections Curator)
• Graduate Assistant: Amanda Miller

Past Team Members

• Sarah Fraser (Graduate Assistant)
• Katharine White (Curator of Manuscripts, Regional History Center)
• Nathan Books (Repository Developer)
• Joseph Thomas (Network Administrator, Technology Initiatives and Support Services)

Partner Institutions

• Chicago State University Project Lead: Aaisha Haykal
• Illinois State University Project Lead: Patrice-Andre Prud'homme
• Illinois Wesleyan University Project Lead: Meg Miner
• Western Illinois University Project Lead: Dr. Jeff Hancks

Advisory Group - IMLS Grant

• Liz Bishoff (Principal Partner, Bishoff Group, LCC)
• Steve Bromage (Executive Director, Maine Historical Society)
• Martin Halbert (Dean of Libraries and Associate Professor, University of North Texas)
• Jerome McDonough (Associate Professor, University of Illinois)
• Christopher Prom (Assistant University Archivist and Professor, University of Illinois)
• Amy Rudersdorf (Assistant Director for Content, Digital Public Library of America)

Information and/or Resources by Advisory Group Members

Phase 2 Project Sponsor

• National Endowment for the Humanities

National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) supports research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities by funding top-rated competitive, peer-reviewed proposals examined by panels of independent, external reviewers. At an annual cost of about 50 cents per capita, NEH brings high-quality historical and cultural experiences to large and diverse audiences in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five territories. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this project do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Phase 1 Project Sponsor

• Institute of Museum and Library Services

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation's 123,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. Through grant making, policy development, and research, IMLS helps communities and individuals thrive through broad public access to knowledge, cultural heritage, and lifelong learning.

Project Website

• Main Webpage

Project Workplan, Calendar, & Annual Updates

• Project Workplan
• Project Calendar/Timeline
• Project Calendar for Dissemination
• Annual Update for Year 1 (2012)
• Annual Update for Year 2 (2013)

Meeting Notes

Meeting Notes from 2012

Meeting Notes from 2013

Meeting Notes from 2014

Working Materials & Documents

• Institution Bios
• Institution Self-Assessments
• File:2012 Dec White Paper Outline DRAFT.pdf
• Typical Installation Processes
• Case Study Framework *Draft*