From 2012-2014, the Digital POWRR Project, an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)-funded study investigated, evaluated, and recommended scalable, sustainable digital preservation solutions for libraries with smaller amounts of data and/or fewer resources. Among the many outcomes of the project include the POWRR tool grid, the POWRR white paper, and a day-long workshop that is still being offered in 2015 and 2016 thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

We are pleased to announce that the final report submitted to the IMLS is now available! Read about all the activities completed during the project by clicking here.

We have about 10 spots left for our first workshop in Chicago! On April 24, 2015, the Digital POWRR team will be conducting a FREE, day-long workshop at Roosevelt University entitled From Theory to Action: A Pragmatic Approach to Digital Preservation Tools and Strategies. This full-day workshop is made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence. The workshop was created as a result of an IMLS-funded study on identifying practical digital preservation solutions for small- and mid-sized libraries. We will not be addressing the “why” of digital preservation; rather, we are preparing for the “how.”…providing hands-on, practical experience. Attendees will practice the accession of a digital collection using a simple, open source tool; learn about several digital preservation tools and services; and create an institution-specific action plan for making progress towards digital preservation goals.

To register for this workshop and learn more, go to http://digitalpowrr04242015.eventzilla.net

This workshop is cosponsored by the Black Metropolis Research Consortium (BMRC). The POWRR team appreciates this organization’s support and generosity. To learn more about the BMRC, click here.

The workshop is limited to 30 participants. First priority will be given to members of colleges in the Black Metropolis Research Consortium. If registration exceeds past the 30 participants, please add your name to the waiting list and we will contact you if there are any cancellations or openings. We encourage each institution to send only 1-2 representatives so that we may have a greater number of institutions able to participate.

This workshop is made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence and is generously sponsored by the Black Metropolis Research Consortium.

Back in October, we announced the new reporting tool for DataAccessioner was ready for download. The DA Metadata Transformer (DA:MT) tool was developed by Seth Shaw to transform the raw XML output from DataAccessioner into .csv and HTML files so that they are much easier to read. Many people had asked for documentation to provide more detailed instructions on how to use the tool. We are pleased to announce that a document has been created that provides instructions and screenshots for using this reporting tool to aid in preservation processing.

DAMT Tutorial

Data Accessioner and Data Accessioner Metadata Transformer will be updated from time to time. You can keep up with the latest updates here. You can download DA:MT and learn more here.

The Digital POWRR Project (Preserving digital Objects with Restricted Resources) is pleased to announce the continuation of the POWRR workshops for the next two years. The project, From Theory to Action: Extending the Reach of Digital POWRR Preservation Workshops, has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 years of Excellence. The grant will allow the POWRR Project to update, develop, and present a minimum of six workshops on digital preservation for archivists, librarians, and other cultural heritage professionals, aimed particularly at those from small and medium-sized institutions.

The Digital POWRR Project began as an Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)- funded grant study to explore practical and pragmatic solutions to digital preservation at under-funded institutions. During the course of our study, Digital POWRR Project team members realized that many information professionals felt overwhelmed by the scope of the problem. This prevented them from moving forward with implementing digital preservation activities. We found that digital preservation is best thought of as an incremental, ongoing, and ever-shifting set of actions, reactions, workflows, and policies. We can start performing digital preservation activities by taking small steps to prioritize and triage digital collections, while working to build awareness and advocate for resources.

We prepared a workshop curriculum based off these findings and presented it to several groups of information professionals as part of the project’s dissemination phase. Much to our surprise, the registration for these workshops filled up quickly and created a long waiting list of eager professionals trying to get into the workshops. Towards the end of the project, organizations of information professionals were still reaching out to team members in hopes to bring the workshop to their area. With the funds of the newly awarded grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access, the workshop can continue providing practical, hands-on solutions to begin digital preservation practices that meet the demands of the information professionals from small and under-funded institutions.

Over the course of the next two years, the POWRR Preservation Workshops will conduct a minimum of six workshops across the country. We will collaborate with regional organizations of information professionals, which will allow us to emphasize outreach to medium-sized and smaller institutions. These organizations will also help us promote the workshops. Should demand permit, the workshops could be repeated back-to-back on subsequent days at each location. Institutions are encouraged to send a single representative in order to maximize the reach to various institutions. The POWRR Project will also have a limited number of travel bursaries available to individuals in need of assistance traveling to the workshops.

Check back here for updates and to see if a workshop is coming to your area!

Take a look at this opportunity to hear members of the POWRR Team discuss the trials, tribulations, victories, and the future of the Digital POWRR Project.

“The NDSA Infrastructure working group invites you and your colleagues to a call on the outcomes of the Digital POWRR project. In keeping with our ongoing series of conversations, you can expect about half the call to be a presentation and the other half to be time for conversation and discussion.

Title: The Digital POWRR Project: What we discovered, what we did about it, and what still needs to be done.

Abstract: Lynne M Thomas and Jaime Schumacher will discuss the outcomes of this IMLS National Leadership Grant project, outline those deliverables that were particularly well-received by the community, identify gaps that have yet to be addressed, and, with the project end-date approaching, seek guidance on the transfer of project-created products that should be maintained and cultivated for the benefit of the wider community.

When: November 18, 2014 at 2pm ET

Call in #: 877-299-5123″

I was honored to be able to represent the Digital POWRR project at iPres 2014, the 11th International Conference on Preservation of Digital Objects. iPres was held in at the State Library of Victoria in Melbourne, Australia from October 6-10, 2014, and brought together leaders in the field of digital preservation from nations across the globe.

Melbourne was a spectacular host city for the conference, as it is full of friendly people, delicious food, beautiful architecture and scenery, and  is home to a unique central business district that features countless narrow alleyways brimming with restaurants, shops, bars, and clubs. When I started researching my travel plans, I discovered one of these alleys had been christened “AC/DC Lane” in 2004 after the famous Australian rock band AC/DC. The photo of the street sign – complete with lightning bolt – made me laugh, as it then dawned on me just how much my POWRR poster had subconsciously been drawing from this iconic band’s imagery and energy. When I introduced my poster on Thursday”s quick fire posters session, I made sure to mention this association, and invited the audience to perhaps alternatively think of my poster, and the Digital POWRR project overall as “Digital Preservation Done Dirt Cheap” (riffing on the band’s 1976 hit album and song “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.”) It remains to be seen if digital preservation can indeed qualify as a “dirty deed,” and I had to stop myself from writing a Weird Al style parody of the song with my own lyrics relating to preservation topis. In any event, my comparison struck a very positive and happy chord among the participants, and I entertained constant attention from and stimulating discussions with delegates for the rest of the day. I was thrilled. Thunderstruck, even.

Digital POWRR poster at iPres2014

On the more serious side, my poster was titled “The Digital POWRR Project: Enabling Collaborative Pragmatic Digital Preservation Approaches.” I attempted to summarize the major work that the Digital POWRR team has been involved in over the last three years, including: the process of testing various preservation services and systems, researching and writing our white paper, compiling our (very popular) tool grid and our current collaboration with the COPTR initiative, the creation of specialized advocacy materials, the development of our popular workshops, our investment in the further development of the open source accessioning tool Data Accessioner, and our work on developing collaborative legal frameworks that can be utilized by anyone in the preservation world, The poster also tries to present some concluding thoughts and lessons learned from the experience of working on this particular project. My poster and summary from iPres can be viewed here in their high-resolution glory. I would like to give a big shout out to my friend Daniel M. Kanemoto for providing the graphical direction and styling that subconsciously harnessed the power of POWRR as well as AC/DC. I remember saying “Can you help me do a poster? All I know is that it needs to be full of thunderbolts. Can you do that?”

I was fortunate enough to attend a number of highly stimulating panels, papers, discussions, and workshops during my time at iPres. Among the highlights of my trip was the hands-on workshop for the BitCurator digital forensics software toolkit (led by the enigmatic Cal Lee), a wonderful panel moderated by Paul Wheatley titled “Getting to Digital Preservation Tools that ‘Just Work'” (which was held in an overflowing room and probably could have sustained a discussion for an entire day!), hearing about further developments in the 4C Project (including the spectacular Digital Curation Costs Exchange site), and, certainly the spectacular gala dinner. The State Library of Victoria was a lovely host venue, combining a stunning building (or series of 23 buildings!) with truly warm and helpful employees. iPres 2015 will be held in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, so keep an eye out for more on that in the coming months!

Oh yes, one other highlight of my trip was getting to see an actual live koala in the wild! I didn’t have much time for sightseeing, but I did manage to take a day long bus tour of the Great Ocean Road. It was a day that I will always cherish. Cheers to my new mates in Australia, and thanks for the wonderful week Down Under.

***As for the title of this post, ” For Those About to Preserve….We Salute You”…if you are familiar with the source material at all, then I hope you enjoy these alternative lyrics that  just somehow popped into my head. Who knew that AC/DC was so relvant to our field??

“Stand up and be counted for what you are about to receive!

We are the curators,

We’ll give you everything you need!

Hail hail to the chain of custody!

Cuz format migration has got the right of way.

Hey, can you emulate this for me?

We’re not just saving for today.

For those about to preserve, we salute you….

For those about to preserve, we salute you…

We preserve files at dawn on the digital front line..

Like a bolt right outta the blue,

The skies alight with a computer byte,

Checksums will roll and rock tonight!

For those about to preserve….we salute you…”