The Educopia Institute, partnering with six members of the Digital
Preservation Services Collaborative (APTrust, Chronopolis, CLOCKSS,
LYRASIS, MetaArchive, and Texas Digital Library), has been awarded a grant
of $147,688 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) to
study the needs for and feasibility of a collaborative community-supported
digital preservation service. Together, the partners in this project serve
over 800 member organizations of varying types and sizes, ranging from
university archives to publishers to historical societies.

Through this planning grant, the project team will articulate the need for
community-supported, values-driven digital preservation services and
develop a design for a future shared service model. By centering a set of
shared values that empower communities of practitioners, the project aims
to engage in a collaborative, bottom-up process that brings multiple
stakeholders into the big tent of planning for the future of digital
preservation.

Hannah Wang and Jessica Meyerson from Educopia Institute will act as
Co-Principal Investigators, with Wang serving as Project Director. Partner
institution representatives for the project include Bradley Daigle
(APTrust), Sibyl Schaefer (Chronopolis), Alicia Wise (CLOCKSS), Lydia Tang
(LYRASIS), and Courtney Mumma (Texas Digital Library).

“This project will represent a significant collaboration between six major
digital preservation service providers who, up until this point, have made
coordinated but unfunded contributions to the field through the sheer power
of shared values and goals,” said Wang. “Community-supported digital
preservation initiatives foster community empowerment in measurable and
visible ways. The continued availability of services that prioritize
transparency and accountability to the cultural heritage organizations they
serve is necessary for these organizations to grant broad and sustained
access to their digital materials.”

The findings and project results will include project recommendations as
well as lessons learned—such as advocacy strategies, research and
development priorities, practical applications of digital preservation
values, and infrastructural pain points—that are applicable to other
collaborative networks and digital preservation communities. These broader
findings may help other networks develop values-driven services in the
digital stewardship sector and advocate for the digital preservation needs
of cultural heritage organizations.

“As a provider of community-controlled infrastructure for libraries, TDL
welcomes this opportunity to partner with other preservation leaders to
empower communities to make digital preservation decisions, especially in
light of structural challenges in the field,” said Kristi Park, Executive
Director, Texas Digital Library.

This project is a part of a larger effort at Educopia to advance networked
approaches to digital preservation <https://educopia.org/communities/> and
builds on the foundation laid by the DPSC Declaration of Shared Values
<https://dpscollaborative.org/>.

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About IMLS

The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of
federal support for the nation's libraries and museums. We advance,
support, and empower America’s museums, libraries, and related
organizations through grantmaking, research, and policy development. Our
vision is a nation where museums and libraries work together to transform
the lives of individuals and communities. To learn more, visit www.imls.gov
and follow us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/USIMLS> and Twitter
<http://www.twitter.com/us_imls>.


Caitlin Perry
Communications and Data Manager
Educopia Institute <https://educopia.org/>
Follow us on Twitter <https://twitter.com/Educopia>!

She/Her
Working from Oyster Bay, NY