InDiPres: a statewide collaborative approach to digital preservation

Pages221-230
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/DLP-08-2016-0035
Date14 August 2017
Published date14 August 2017
AuthorCinda Ann May
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology,Records management & preservation,Information repositories
InDiPres: a statewide
collaborative approach to
digital preservation
Cinda Ann May
Cunningham Memorial Library, Indiana State University,
Terre Haute, Indiana, USA
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this case study is to demonstratehow cultural memory organizations in Indiana
used LibraryServices Technology Act grant funding as seedmoney to form a collaborative group to attain an
affordableand sustainable digital preservation solution.
Design/methodology/approach This case study relates how concern for digital content created
across Indiana by an array of cultural memory organizations led to a multi-year quest to establish a
community-based,cost-effective, open-sourcedigital preservation solution to addressa common problem.
Findings Interest in a collaborative community-based digital preservation solution, especially among
small- and mid-sized under-resourced organizations, exists across the spectrum of Indiana culturalheritage
institutions,but education and commitment are key to the success of a statewide solution.
Originality/value While focusing on cultural memory organizations in Indiana, the case study also
provides information about the process of establishing a digital preservation collaborative to leverage
resources to provide a cost-effective andsustainable long-term solution, particularly for small- to mid-sized
institutions.
Keywords Grants, Education, Collaboration, Digital preservation, Cultural memory,
Community engagement
Paper type Case study
Introduction
The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) Working Group on Special Collections stated
in its 2009 DiscussionReport, Special Collections in ARL Libraries, that:
[e]xcept on the smallest scale, the challenges of digital storage and preservation will be beyond
the capacity of almost all special collections repositories. The volume of digital materials that will
ow into special collections repositories is such that it requires collaboration with other
repositories and service providers with the capacity and capabilities to house and manage them
(ARL Working Group, 2009).
If academic research libraries are and will be hard-pressed to handle the inux of digital
content for long-term preservation and access, how will public libraries, local historical
societies, museums and othergroups that do not possess the technological infrastructureor
staff grapple with the problem? It is imperative that the very institutions that make it
possible for these cultural heritage organizations to engage in digitization projects also
provide the means to make digital preservationaccessible to all.
ARL issued SPEC Kit 325 Digital Preservation in October2011. The SPEC Kit analyzed
the data gathered through a survey ofARL libraries administered during March and April
2011, and provided representative documents collected to supplydirection in the creation of
digital preservation policies, procedures, data management, job descriptions and
Approach to
digital
preservation
221
Received 16 August 2016
Revised 17 October 2016
Accepted 17 October 2016
DigitalLibrary Perspectives
Vol.33 No. 3, 2017
pp. 221-230
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2059-5816
DOI 10.1108/DLP-08-2016-0035
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2059-5816.htm

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