Greetings International Community of Digital Stewardship Colleagues,

WHO IS SPN?
Since 2015, the Software Preservation Network (SPN) has worked to create a space where organizations from industry, academia, government, cultural heritage, and the public sphere can contribute their skills and capabilities toward collaborative solutions that will ensure persistent access to all software and all software-dependent objects. A dedicated and growing community of practice has formed around SPN as a platform to align project-based and programmatic efforts in software preservation.

Warm appreciation to all of the organizations that have invested in SPN's future by becoming members - we look forward to working with you in 2019!

SPN Sustaining Members:

Computer History Museum Duke University Georgia Tech Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Living Computer Museums + Labs Penn State University Stanford University Texas Tech University University of North Carolina – Greensboro University of Texas at Austin University of Virginia Yale University

WHY SUPPORT SPN?
To date, the resources we offer have been built through grant funding and the volunteer efforts of staff from dozens of organizations. Examples of those resources include a bi-monthly newsletter on all things software preservation, U.S. Copyright Office 1201 exemption to preserve software, software metadata crosswalk, software preservation webinar series, and a software preservation research scan (stay tuned for the research toolkit in 2019). Our affiliated projects include Fostering a Community of Practice: Software Preservation and Emulation Experts in Libraries and Archives (FCoP), Scaling Emulation and Software Preservation Infrastructure (EaaSI), and Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Software Preservation.

If you value the work we have completed to date, and if you would like to see SPN continue to build our collective capacity for software preservation through research, advocacy, and educational programming, then please consider supporting us for the next two years.

HOW TO SUPPORT SPN?
We are requesting financial support for a two-year start-up period to scale SPN's services and operations. Review the SPN Prospectus (attached) for more detail on our activities and our plans for the proposed two year ramp-up period.

The deadline for submitting your Participation Agreement is December 14, 2018. If we are able to garner adequate support between now and December 14, SPN will officially launch as a member/sponsor-funded community on January 1, 2019. Through the financial support of your organization, SPN will be able to continue working toward our goal of “Saving Software, Together”.

SPN recognizes that 1) it takes time to receive internal approval and signatures and the holidays complicate that timeline a bit and 2) invoicing needs and fiscal year planning cycles vary among institutions so we can work with each institution to accommodate their invoicing needs.

If your organization can commit to signing on for two year ramp-up period (2019 - 2021) before December 14th, we can work with you regarding the administrative hurdles of invoicing after the fact. We would, however, include your organization’s name in the list of signatories/participating members in weekly reminders to listservs about joining SPN (between now and Dec 14).