Conference Proposal
Your Catchy Title: Digital Data Capture for Small and Mid-Sized Institutions
While many larger institutions have made considerable headway on digital preservation, medium-sized and smaller-sized institutions have struggled to make similar progress, largely due to lack of time, staff, or funds. Yet, preparedness and action concerning digital materials is essential as more hard drives and CDs arrive from donors and old media begin to deteriorate. The ingest of new digital material, as well as ensuring older content is still accessible, is of great concern for archivists. This panel investigates the strategies that small and medium-sized institutions are implementing in order to ensure the preservation of digital objects in their repositories. Three panelists will also address their experience with digital preservation. Particularly, [sub-topics could include:] in creating awareness and surveying of donors,the process of ingest, choosing/creating management software, creating metadata, developing a methodology for preservation or access, providing users access to the digital content. Additionally, a panel member will discuss the working grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services that was awarded to Northern Illinois University that is currently investigating this issue.
Audience members with novice interest and understanding as well as experienced digital archivists in small and mid-sized institutions would benefit from this session; it will address the current concerns and methods of practice in collecting and archiving digital content. Audience members can leave the session with the latest knowledge in emerging methods for planning and implementing the processing of digital material.
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Proposal submitted for SAA 2013 Annual Meeting (Rec'd Lone Arranger roundtable endorsement October 5, 2012; accepted by SAA program committee Nov. 20, 2012; submission acceptance rate of 51%.)
Digital Data Preservation for Small and Mid-Sized Institutions
Session abstract for publication: Digital POWRR, or, Preserving (digital) Objects with Restricted Resources, is a project seeking an all-encompassing methodology for digital preservation that provides users the access to, or restrictions of, digital content that they create. Two project members—one from a mid-sized, public research institution and one from a small, private liberal arts school—will present the group’s findings. Audience members from all institution types who are seeking recommendations will find value in these research results.
Session abstract for review: While many larger institutions are making headway on digital preservation, medium-sized and smaller-sized institutions have struggled to make similar progress. And yet, readiness concerning digital materials is essential as more hard drives and CDs arrive from donors and old media formats become obsolete. This panel describes the strategies that small and medium-sized institutions are implementing as a result of a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Digital POWRR, or, Preserving (digital) Objects with Restricted Resources, involves five Illinois academic institutions investigating campus-wide preservation of digital objects.
Two project members—one from a mid-sized, public research institution and one from a small, private liberal arts school—will present their experiences in this work that is ultimately developing an all-encompassing methodology for digital preservation while providing users the access to or restrictions of the digital content that they value.
Audience members from novice to experienced in all institution types will benefit from this session and will leave with the latest information on methods for planning and implementing the processing of digital material.
Credentials: Lynne M. Thomas is the co-Principal Investigator of this IMLS-funded National Leadership Grant. As Curator of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University, she is responsible for popular culture special collections, including papers of contemporary authors. She co-authored Special Collections 2.0, with Beth Whittaker of the University of Kansas (Libraries Unlimited, 2009). Thomas was also a leader in developing a white paper on digital preservation for a state-wide library consortium.
Meg Miner is a Project Leader at one of five Partner Institutions in the IMLS grant. She works with a variety of campus constituencies to collect, preserve and make accessible records that document the academic and organizational activities of Illinois Wesleyan University. As a member of the Ames Library’s Digital Initiatives team since 2006, Miner helps develop policies and conducts campus outreach to secure the university’s digital assets and to develop IWU’s institutional repository.
Relationship to meeting goals: The investigators of this IMLS grant are all from academic institutions, but we are working with community organizations that have even fewer resources than we do. Additionally, IMLS is requiring us to look beyond just the collections we regularly manage and to identify ways we can help all parts of our organizations secure their digital heritage—a timely topic given data curation requirements many researchers are facing.
Target audience: Attendees facing digital preservation challenges in repositories that lack technical support and/or funds to procure the increasingly prevalent large, and costly, commercial services will benefit from the findings of this project.
ALA Poster Session Proposal (Aaisha Haykal)
Title: Digital Data Capture for Small and Mid-Sized Institutions
Abstract: Digital POWRR, or, Preserving (digital) Objects with Restricted Resources, is a project seeking an all-encompassing methodology for digital preservation that provides users the access to, or restrictions of, digital content that they create. This project is a result of a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and involves five Illinois academic institutions investigating campus-wide preservation of digital objects. While many larger institutions have made considerable headway on digital preservation, medium-sized and smaller-sized institutions have struggled to make similar progress, largely due to lack of time, staff, or funds. Yet, they still have to tackle this issue if they want to preserve the historical memory of their institutions and be good stewards of the materials they collect or create. The poster will address the project’s aim as a whole (where the grant is as it ends its first-year and where it aims to go in the second-year); and highlight the work and findings at one partner institution: Chicago State University. Graphs will be used to show how staff and faculty are preserving their data on campus currently; and how confident or not confident they are that their data will be accessible in the future. Audiences will obtain the latest information on methods and tools to process digital material. The main focus of year-one of the project was to increase awareness of digital preservation on campus, which will be evaluated by the quantity of interviews and demonstrations/workshops that have been done on the respective partner campuses.
ALA Conversation Starter Proposal (Aaisha Haykal and Gayle Porter)
Title: Digital Data Capture for Small and Mid-Sized Institutions
Description: Digital POWRR, or, Preserving (digital) Objects with Restricted Resources, is a project that seeks an all-encompassing methodology for digital preservation of digital content for medium-sized and smaller-sized institutions. This project is a result of a National Leadership Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and involves five Illinois academic institutions investigating campus-wide preservation of digital objects. This session will allow grant partners to share their experiences on developing awareness about digital preservation on their campuses and creating preservation intent statements; and allow audience members to share their concerns, solutions, and programs regarding digital preservation at their institution.