World Digital Preservation Day on 4th November 2021

It has been rather an exciting year for the Society when it comes to digital preservation! On the #WDPD2020 exactly one year ago we invited our members to express their interest in forming a new Digital Preservation Special Interest Group to provide a platform for sharing knowledge, information and learning in this area. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive as members are increasingly having to manage the authenticity and accessibility of their vulnerable digital content over time. This led to the DPIG group being launched in January 2021, sponsored by IRMS Vice Chair Jaana Pinnick and chaired by Linda Shave.

After initial discussions Linda put together a three-part webinar series “Fundamentals of Digital Preservation” to provide members with basic knowledge and skills to start developing their preservation activities. Unfortunately, after the first session which looked at the lifecycle of the record, Linda had to step down so Jaana delivered the rest of the webinars. The second instalment explored the difference between digital archiving and digital preservation. Finally, the third webinar gave members information on how to set up a small-scale preservation programme using their existing best practice and open source tools. (These are available on the IRMS YouTube Channel if you missed them and would like to catch up.)

Meanwhile, IRMS COG, or the Constitutional Officers Group, have also been working hard behind the scenes to provide members additional support with their preservation activities. IRMS Chair Ren Leming and Vice Chair Jaana have held discussions with ARA and Preservica about developing an online training course for both IRMS and ARA members to be delivered in early 2022. This course will provide a much needed next step from our Fundamentals webinar series to delve deeper into the preservation infrastructure and the future of digital technologies.

We are still looking for a Group Chair to manage the DPIG which has been well attended in 2021. Support and training in IRMS procedures will be provided. For further information please contact Suzy Taylor, Groups Director, on groups@irms.org.uk