An academic understanding of the issues in digital preservation is necessary but not sufficient for professional digital preservation work. Digital preservation is fundamentally about making the best use of what are always limited resources to best support the mission of an organization. As such, to really learn how to do digital preservation you need to apply these concepts in the practical realities of an organizational context.
Aside from participating in discussion of the course readings through the course blog, the course requires you to act as a digital preservation consultant for a cultural heritage organization. Per the syllabus, you are required to 1) survey the organizations existing digital collections, practices, and resources 2) propose practical next steps the organzation could take to improve its management of digital content and 3) draft a digital preservation policy for each organziation. Below is informaton on each of the institutions. Please add links to your assignments as you complete them below.
Public Libraries & Special Collections
The DC Punk Archive: The DC Punk Archive, a collection in the DC Public Library’s (DCPL) Special Collections, was established in 2014 to document Washington D.C.’s incredibly influential punk music scene from the mid-1970s to present day.
Milwaukee Public Library: Milwaukee Public Library (MPL) is the public library system in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, consisting of a central library and 13 branches, all part of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System. MPL is the largest public library system in Wisconsin.
DC Public Library Washingtoniana Collection: The Washingtoniana Collection was established in 1905 when Library Director, Dr. George F. Bowerman, had the foresight to start collecting books and articles about the local community. Washingtoniana houses an array of resources and materials from the late 18th Century to the present, with a primary focus on the local city.
Historical Societies and Small Museums
Litchfield Historical Society : The Litchfield Historical Society in Litchfield, Connecticut. The organization collects materials related to Litchfield County, CT and maintains a museum, research library, and a historic house, the Tapping Reeve House and Law School.
Laurel Historical Society: The Laurel Historical Society in Maryland has been an active organization since 1976. Initially called Laurel Horizon Society, the organization has been committed to preserving the history of Laurel, MD.
Bostwick House: Bostwick is a historic eighteenth-century site located in Bladensburg, Maryland, that consists of an elegant Georgian-style main house, multiple outbuildings, and landscaped grounds. The house is run by the Historic Preservation Program (HISP) within the University of Maryland’s School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation.
Media & Arts Organizations
Maryland Public Television : MPT, is a regional public television network whose records are housed by University of Maryland’s Special Collections in Mass Media and Culture.
The Channel: The Channel is an American video production company that produces over 200 hours of documentary programming per year for distribution via cable and video on demand services, both domestically and internationally.
18th Street Singers’ Digital Collection – The 18th Street Singers is a fifty-voice ensemble of professionals living and working in and around our nation’s capital. The group’s mission is to reinvigorate a new generation of choral music audiences by offering fresh, spirited interpretations of both traditional and contemporary choral works, while insisting on the very highest standards of performance.
State Library, Archives or Historical Agencies
Virginia Department of Historic Resources Archives and Library: The Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) has a mission “to foster, encourage, and support the stewardship of Virginia’s significant historic architectural, archaeological, and cultural resources.” The organization is headquartered in Richmond and has three regional preservation offices across the state.
North Dakota State Library: The North Dakota State Library is a government operated library in the U.S. state of North Dakota. Located in the state’s capital city of Bismarck on the capital grounds, the library has been in operation since 1907.
- Digital Preservation Survey
- Next Steps Recommendations
- Draft Preservation Policy
Research Libraries and Archives
Viterbo University Archives: Viterbo University is a Catholic, liberal arts university located in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Founded in 1890 The University Archives, a division of the Library Department, strives to collect records that reflect those values.
Jacobus tenBroek Library: The Jacobus tenBroek Library at the National Federation of the Blind serves patrons who are researching non-medical aspects of blindness. Its collections cover areas including the education of blind children, disability law and policy, the history of attitudes toward the blind, and literary works by blind authors.
American Association of Geographers Digital Collections: For the past 112 years, the American Association of Geographers (AAG) has served as the leading nonprofit scientific and educational society for those interested in the theory, methods, and practice of geography.
- Digital Preservation Survey
- Next Steps Recommendations
- Draft Preservation Policy