The Digital POWRR Academy is an immersive, cohort-based training program designed to help cultural heritage professionals build practical digital preservation skills and translate what they learn into achievable action at their organizations.
The Academy builds upon more than a decade of Digital POWRR training, research, and community-building. Its expanded five-day format will provide participants with more time for hands-on learning, organizational assessment, project planning, peer exchange, and individualized guidance. Participants will also receive continued cohort and peer support following the residential program.
The First Digital POWRR Academy
Applications for the first Digital POWRR Academy cohort will open in early 2027. Complete information about eligibility, participant support, selection criteria, and application requirements will be posted on this page when the application is released.
Applications are not yet open.
Who Is the Academy For?
The Digital POWRR Academy is intended for people who are responsible for preserving digital materials at libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, and other cultural heritage organizations.
The program will be particularly relevant to practitioners who:
- Are new to digital preservation or have recently assumed digital stewardship responsibilities
- Need to strengthen their practical skills as their roles evolve
- Are responsible for digital preservation as one part of a broader position
- Work without dedicated digital preservation staff or extensive technical resources
- Want to develop sustainable practices appropriate to their organization’s needs and capacity
- Would benefit from an ongoing community of peers working through similar challenges
What Participants Will Experience
The Academy will combine instruction, hands-on activities, guided assessment, collaborative learning, and individual planning. Rather than prescribing a single technological solution or idealized set of practices, the program will help participants identify realistic next steps based on their collections, responsibilities, resources, and institutional context.
Academy activities will include:
- Practical instruction in digital preservation concepts, tools, and workflows
- Hands-on exercises and demonstrations
- Assessment of current organizational practices
- Development of achievable preservation goals and action plans
- Small-group discussion and peer learning
- Individualized guidance from experienced instructors
- Opportunities to build lasting professional relationships
- Continued cohort support following the in-person Academy
The curriculum will build upon existing Digital POWRR educational materials. POWRR will also work with the Digital Preservation Coalition to adapt and incorporate selected content from its Novice to Know-How training program.
More Than a One-Week Workshop
The residential Academy is one part of a longer learning experience. Participants will complete preparatory activities before arriving and will continue meeting with their cohort following the Academy. This extended model is intended to help participants apply what they have learned, maintain momentum, work through implementation challenges, and remain connected to a supportive peer community.
Costs and Participant Support
Digital POWRR is committed to reducing financial barriers to participation.
Applications
Applications for the first Digital POWRR Academy cohort will be released in early 2027.
The application will ask prospective participants to describe their professional responsibilities, organizational context, digital collections, previous training, current preservation challenges, and what they hope to accomplish through the Academy.
- Application opening date
- Application deadline
- Notification date
- Number of available places
- Selection criteria
- Travel-support request process
Accessibility and Accommodations
Digital POWRR is committed to creating an accessible and supportive learning environment. Information about accessibility, dietary needs, lodging accommodations, and the process for requesting individual accommodations will be provided before applications open.
Questions
Questions about the Digital POWRR Academy may be directed to:
digital.powrr.workshops@gmail.com
Project Support
The Digital POWRR Academy is part of Expanding the Reach of Digital POWRR’s Digital Preservation and Stewardship Training to Meet Critical Workforce Needs, a two-year project led by University of Arizona Libraries.
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program, award RE-259453-OLS-26.
