The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) is delighted to welcome Chester Beatty in Dublin as Associate member.
Chester Beatty has been described as the finest collection of manuscripts and books assembled by a private collector in the 20th century. It includes representative samples of the world’s heritage (artistic, religious and secular) from about 2700 BC to the present century.
The museum is beginning a major in-house digitisation programme with the long term goal of digitising the entirety of its collections. This growing body of digital assets will be recognised as a valuable part of Chester Beatty’s organisational holdings and will need to be managed as such.
“Growing knowledge and expertise in the area of digital preservation will be a critical component of our growth in this new area as will the development of robust professional networks with our peers,” explains Tim Keefe, Head of Digital at Chester Beatty. “Through the DPC’s resources, conferences and workshops and the exceptional professional network of the membership, we feel that the Coalition is ideally positioned to provide the resources necessary to help us manage our transition into new digital spaces.”
Chair of the DPC Board and Head of Data Division in the Scientific Computing Department at STFC, Juan Bicarregui welcomed the news saying, “We look forward to working alongside Chester Beatty to build the capability necessary to manage their valuable digital content and historic record far into the future.”
The not-for-profit DPC is an advocate for digital preservation and helps members to deliver resilient long-term access to digital content and services through community engagement, targeted advocacy work, training and workforce development, capacity building, good practice and standards, and through good management and governance. Its primary objective is raising awareness of the importance of the preservation of digital material and the attendant strategic, cultural and technological issues.
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