New Members

The British Architectural Library of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is the latest organisation to join the Digital Preservation Coalition

“As a library, museum and archive with complex historic analogue and digital collections, we create, ingest, preserve and make accessible digital objects as a core activity,” explains Dylan Evans, RIBA’s Head of Systems & Services. “Our particular areas of interest include preservation strategies for e-Journals, digital photographs, born digital architecture and electronic design records (CAD, BIM and 3-D files), audio visual materials and databases.”

“Joining the Digital Preservation Coalition will provide us with access to specialist resources, a unique network of peer advisors, and collaborative opportunities that are essential for the Library’s promotion, preservation and developments of its important architecture and design collections,” Dylan continues.

The DPC is pleased to announce that United Nations (UN) Archives and Records Management Section joined the coalition in March this year.

“We believe it’s important for the UN to be seen to be active in digital preservation and being part of the DPC will provide the right kind support and expertise for our work to develop digital preservation capacity and capability within the UN’s Secretariat,” explains Bridget Sisk, Chief of the Archives and Records Management Section (ARMS).

ARMS acquires, preserves, and makes available material created or received during all UN business, ensuring that historically significant records are made available for a variety of research uses, including teaching purposes, legal proceedings, building plans, publications, television and radio programs.

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the University of East London as its latest member.

‘UEL’s Library and Learning Services manage substantial and growing collections which are of long-term value, including publication and data repositories and curated digital collections’, explained Laura Mitchell, chair of the DPC. ‘The collections are diverse in type, including digitised and born-digital materials including some 15000 images alone. The staff are committed to ensuring that these remain discoverable, authentic and useable in the long term.’

‘UEL will soon add a new research data repository to their digital infrastructure. As a university, research and teaching outputs are highly prized, so ensuring their continued availability supports the fundamental mission of the organisation.’

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the University of Hull as its latest member.

‘Hull has made an outstanding contribution to the development of institutional repositories in the UK’, said Laura Mitchell chair of the DPC. ‘Although they have been working in digital preservation for many years, their contributions to the ground-breaking AIMS project and Hydra tools have brought them into more direct contact with the digital preservation community lately.‘

‘Perhaps the most exciting element of their work is the way that are making their institutional infrastructure available for 3rd parties.’

‘Digital preservation has become very real for us in recent years’, explained Chris Awre, Head of Information Management at the University. ‘It has implications across the our repository and our archive service as well our academic interests. It’s a whole new research field in its own right and we have been fortunate to be involved in a range of innovative explorations of how to manage and preserve digital collections.

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome Lloyds Banking Group as its newest member.

‘Lloyds Banking Group Archives represents the corporate memory of the group, taking in key records for permanent preservation,’ explains Helen Redmond-Cooper, Head of Archives & Museums at Lloyds. ‘We take in records of all formats, and the recent influx of digital material has brought about the beginnings of a digital preservation programme for the Group.

’‘We are keen to use our membership of the DPC to optimise this programme by learning about best practice in digital preservation from other coalition members,’ she adds, ‘and we particularly look forward to sharing our own interests and perspectives relating to the undertaking of digital curation activities in a corporate environment.’

The DPC is pleased to announce that the Welsh Government, through its CyMAL: Museums Archives and Libraries Wales division joined the coalition on 18th December 2013.

‘The Welsh Government is concerned with ensuring the safekeeping of Wales’ digital resources, for access now and in the future. CyMAL is the policy division which promotes and protects the culture and heritage of Wales by supporting its museums, archives and libraries,’ explains Linda Tomos, CyMAL’s Director.

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick as its newest member.

‘The Modern Records Centre is widely respected as a centre of excellence in archival research,’ explained William Kilbride, Executive Director of the DPC. ‘They have recently augmented their processes and procedures for digital preservation and their digital collections are growing rapidly. This will help them managing their research data, the university’s own digital archives, and also the many archives deposited from outside agencies like the Confederation of British Industry.'

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the Department of Information Studies of the University of Aberystwyth at the as its newest member.

‘Aberystwyth University is an established and highly respected centre of excellence in Information Studies,’ explained William Kilbride, Executive Director of the DPC. ‘Their programmes in information skills, librarianship and archive management reaches upwards of 1000 students at any one time given their widely-regarded investment in distance learning. This is a time of real change for library and archive schools. Skills and career prospects are changing rapidly in this sector with tremendous opportunities opening up for those who innovate. ‘It’s is a clear signal that Aberystwyth University is committed to ensuring their students and researchers remain actively involved in the rapidly-growing digital preservation community.’

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the Information Services of the University of Edinburgh at the as its newest member.

"The University of Edinburgh is a blend of an historic institution that has significant collections of diverse materials and a high-performing research intensive university'' explained John Scally, director of Library and Collections . "These present us with a changing array of digital preservation requirements - from the digitisation of physical collections to the influx of new digital data in volumes previously not seen, often with unknown preservation expectations. We have recently included digital preservation as a significant strategic theme in our forward plans and are joining the DPC to assist us in the framing of a plan to address this important area."

Richard Ovenden, chair of the Coalition, welcomed the University of Edinburgh to the DPC. ''We are delighted that they have decided to join us. Their membership will strengthen their work by giving them priority access to staff development, knowledge exchange and other leaders in the field. As well as seeking solutions, all our members bring expertise to the table: so this will strengthen the Coalition. The University of Edinburgh is our second new member since the start of 2013, a fact which underlines the demand for the mix of services which the DPC offers."

• For more about the Library and Collections at the University of Edinburgh see: http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/information-services/about/organisation/library-and-collection
• For more about the Digital Preservation Coalition, or to join see: http://www.dpconline.org/join-us

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome Royal Museums Greenwich as its newest member.

Richard Ferguson, Documentation Manager, Royal Museums Greenwich said 'Having the opportunity to join a community of practice which has a focus on addressing and developing greater understanding of the challenges of digital preservation is most timely.'

'We have a mission to illustrate for everyone the importance of sea, ships, time and the stars and their relationship with people through maximising access to its collections and its expertise. Developing robust and sustainable strategies, processes and infrastructure to support management, care and preservation of both collection and corporate digital assets is a core objective of our strategic plan.'