The Software Preservation Network (SPN) 2016 Forum will be Monday, August 1st, 2016 on the Georgia State University campus in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The SPN 2016 Forum theme,“Action Research: Empowering the Cultural Heritage Community and Mapping Out
Next Steps for Software Preservation” reflects the mission of the Software Preservation Network (SPN) to solicit community input and build consensus around next steps for preserving software at scale - in the larger effort to ensure long-term access to
digital objects.
Community participation is key to success - Be apart of the SPN 2016 Forum program!
Organizational structures that have worked for other multi-institutional initiatives that may work for software preservation
The SPN project team believes that the practice of critical reflection around software preservation must incorporate members from complementary domains to actively participate in a coordinated effort to develop a sustainable, national strategy for proprietary
software licensing and collection – pulling heavily from the collective, lived experience and expertise of researcher-practitioners in software development, law, archives, libraries, museums, and other domains.
While proposals that provide historical context for software collection or preservation are welcome, every proposal should include the following components:
Relevance to the Software Preservation Network project (what core component of the network does the proposal address?)
Pre-conference materials for attendees (surveys, worksheets, thought piece, etc.)
Session participant outcomes and how those outcomes pipe into the larger discussion of a national software preservation strategy
Assessment method – how would you define a successful session? How would you gauge the productivity of your session?
Session format options include but are not limited to:
Use cases (30-45 minute presentation): describes specific institutional cases/situations where software played a key role in providing (or not being able to provide, as the case may be) access to digital collection material
What IFs (5-10 minute presentation): lightning talks that propose a realistic “what if?” scenario for addressing some aspect of software preservation
Context panels (45-60 minutes): provide contextual information about issues related to software preservation
Workshops (30-60 minutes): small group breakout activities that asks participants to reflect on and refine emerging solutions to software preservation
Important Dates:
April 4: Deadline for forum proposal submissions
April 5: Registration opens
April 18: Notification of acceptance
May 31: Registration closes