The DPC is seeking Members to join a focus group as part of a Member Support activity with the University of Sheffield. This initiative aims to investigate what good practice looks like for the deposit or transfer of digital content to an archive.
We understand that practice will vary across organizations and that there may be a range of approaches depending on the nature of the content, the expertise of the depositor and the needs of the organization. We would therefore like to convene a focus group of Members to discuss and share these experiences. Questions for discussion include:
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What information is required from the donor or depositor alongside the transfer of digital content?
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What guidance is provided on the deposit or transfer process?
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What agreements are signed to ensure that the archive has the necessary permissions to carry out digital preservation activities?
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What are the recommended methods of receiving the content and what are the practices to avoid?
We are keen to find out about a range of organizational practices and have an honest conversation about what works and what doesn’t work, what an ideal scenario might look like… and what an acceptable process could be (if that ideal scenario can’t be reached).
The focus group will meet online for a 2 hour session in February 2025 to discuss and compare approaches. All attendees will be encouraged to openly share their thoughts. A follow-on session in April-May 2025 may be arranged to discuss and share outcomes and gather further feedback where appropriate.
There will be outputs from this work that will be specific to the University of Sheffield, but we anticipate there will also be lessons learned and good practice guidance that will be shared with the wider community.
Please contact Jenny.Mitcham@dpconline.org by the 8th January 2025 if you would be interested in joining this focus group and discussing your working practices.