The DPC is pleased to announce that its new Digital Preservation Competency Framework and companion resources are now available for member preview on the DPC Website.
The DPC Digital Preservation Competency Framework identifies and describes information on the skills, knowledge, and competencies required for successful digital preservation. It aims to reflect current good practice whilst also being designed with flexibility in mind - to offer a balance of detail so that it can be widely applicable for a range of applications as well as useable by digital preservation practitioners across different organizational contexts.
Possible uses of the Competency Framework include:
- Facilitating recruitment
- Structuring professional development
- Auditing skills
- Reviewing curricula
“Skilled staff are essential to successful digital preservation”, explains Sharon McMeekin, Head of Workforce Development with the DPC. “But practitioners often find it difficult to identify what skills they need, and how to structure their professional development. Similarly, organizations struggle with understanding the skills needed to support current and target digital preservation capabilities, and how to build an effective digital preservation team through development and recruitment. With the new Competency Framework, the DPC hopes to provide a foundation for these activities and plans to develop a range of companion resources to facilitate its practical application”.
Alongside the Competency Framework, the DPC has also launched two complementary resources: The Competency Audit Toolkit (DPC CAT) and a set of Example Role Descriptions. DPC CAT provides users with practical, structured processes for assessing the skill levels of those undertaking digital preservation work at their organization. The Toolkit supports three audit processes:
- An audit of an individual’s current skill levels against those defined by the Competency Framework.
- A comparison of an individual’s role description with the tasks and responsibilities they actually undertake.
- An audit of the skills of a group of staff members against the skill levels required to maintain and improve the organization’s digital preservation capabilities.
Development of DPC CAT has been generously supported by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.
Members can now access all of these resources on the DPC Website (login is required). The Competency Framework, DPC CAT, and the Example Role Descriptions will be released publicly later in 2022.