DigitalPreservationEurope (DPE) fosters collaboration and synergies
between existing national initiatives across the European Research
Area. DPE addresses the need to improve coordination, cooperation and
consistency in current activities to secure effective preservation of
digital materials. As part of its core objectives, DPE is implementing
a suite of training events based on current best practice and to
identify additional practitioner training and staff development needs.
To this end, DPE, Preservation and Long-term Access through Networked
Services (PLANETS) and Network of Expertise in Long-Term Storage of
Digital resources (nestor) delivered their first joint training event
to introduce the Principles of Digital Preservation in Vilnius,
Lithuania from 1 October 2007 to 5 October 2007. This event was held in
cooperation with the international conference "Communication of memory in archives, museums and libraries: the interaction of science, policy and practice"
which provided participants with further networking opportunities to
meet with other researchers, international experts, and practitioners
across disciplinary and national boundaries.
This training event introduced participants to a number of key
digital preservation principles and provided them with an opportunity
to apply this knowledge through a number of hands-on exercises.
Participants left with:
- an awareness and understanding of key digital preservation issues and challenges,
- an appreciation of the range of roles and responsibilities involved with digital preservation activity,
- a developed understanding of the role and use of metadata,
- a familiarity with file formats currently considered beneficial for preservation
- an insight into the concepts of trust and trustworthiness in the context of digital preservation,
- an understanding of the 'utility analysis' methodology within the
framework of preservation planning and opportunity to build objective
trees for different types of digital objects within their own
institutions
