Reappraising Appraisal

Check your local time for the event here.

In the spring of 2024, the DPC asked its Full Members what topics they’d like to explore during the coming year, and “appraisal” came right near the top of the list of responses.

Appraisal is a well-established, core function of digital collecting organizations and archives. We all do it, but we all seem to worry about whether we’re doing it right, how other people are doing it, and whether we could be doing it better. It’s not even clear that we all agree on what we mean by “appraisal” when it comes to dealing with digital data and records. Do conventional ideas of selection and collection development still have a place? Can we reliably and consistently separate the appraisal of intellectual content and perceived value to the organization or users, from issues of file format or carrier? When it comes to the appraisal – or reappraisal – of digital materials, how can we do it at scale? Will automating some aspects of our appraisal workflows help us deal with the deluge of digital data?

This half-day event will bring together organizations facing new challenges around appraising digitized and born-digital data. We will also hear from practitioners who have developed new appraisal workflows to cope with the challenges of digital materials. And we will learn about some of the latest work to develop checklists and selection criteria, that we can take up and adapt in order to help make our appraisal processes more consistent and manageable.

Confirmed speakers will discuss appraisal at several leading organizations:

• Western Libraries

• Digital Research Alliance of Canada

• Digital Repository of Ireland

• Data Curation Network

• APTrust

• Yale University

• University of Arkansas

• Kent State University

• Michigan Digital Preservation Network

• Public Record Office Northern Ireland

• Library of Congress

• University of Georgia

But what helps makes these events so successful is not just a great combination of expert speakers, it’s also the questions, comments, and discussion points raised by DPC Members like you. This meeting will provide a unique opportunity to learn from others, and to reflect, refine, and share your own thoughts and experiences about this fundamental aspect of our work. So do please come along!

A watch party for Members in Australasia/Asia-Pacific time zones is provisionally scheduled to take place on: 25th September, 2024, details to be confirmed.

Recordings

All presentations will be recorded and made available to DPC Members and Supporters via this web page after the event (login to DPC website required).

Recordings will also be shared with non-members who pay to attend the event.

Please note – DPC Members do not need to register in order to access the recordings after the event.

Registration

Check your local time for the event here.

Registration is open to all, with no charge for DPC Members or DPC Supporters and £250 for non-Members. Full Members may register 5 attendees and Associate Members may register 1 attendee for this event. DPC Members can claim their free place by entering the promotional code DPCMEMBER. DPC Supporters can claim their free place by entering the promotional code DPCSUPP. Any additional attendees can attend for a charge of £250.

Registration will close 48 hours before the event starts. If you wish to register after registration has closed, please email eleanor.oleary@dpconline.org

DPC events rely on having minimum numbers to run successfully and effectively. Low numbers may mean events are not viable and will need to be cancelled, so please check that you can attend before booking.

If you register for this event and find that you can no longer attend, you are welcome to send a colleague in your place. If you need to cancel, please email eleanor.oleary@dpconline.org with the event name. If cancelling please try to provide more than 48 hours’ notice before the scheduled event time, otherwise a cancellation fee of £50 may apply.

DPC Inclusion & Diversity Policy

The DPC Community is guided by the values set out in our Strategic Plan and aims to be respectful, welcoming, inclusive and transparent. We encourage diversity in all its forms and are committed to being accessible to everyone who wishes to engage with the topic of digital preservation, whilst remaining technology and vendor neutral. We ask all those who are part of this community to be positive, accepting, and sensitive to the needs and feelings of others in alignment with our DPC Inclusion & Diversity Policy.