FROM SILOS TO COMMUNITY: The Path to a Holistic Digital Preservation Policy

McCann, Laura; Stephan, Weatherly A.

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/121106 Copy

Description

Title

FROM SILOS TO COMMUNITY: The Path to a Holistic Digital Preservation Policy

Author(s)

• McCann, Laura
• Stephan, Weatherly A.

Issue Date

2023

Keyword(s)

• Community of Practice
• Documentation
• Policy
• Preservation Strategy
• Stewardship

Abstract

While New York University Libraries has a long history of and commitment to digital collecting and preservation efforts, the institution did not have any policies governing the services and activities of digital preservation prior to 2022. This paper details the creation of a holistic digital preservation policy statement, with contributors from across ten functional units at NYU Libraries. The policy was grounded in the Libraries’ mission and values–including deep commitments to inclusion, diversity, belonging, equity, and accessibility–and drew on themes crafted by all members of the group to ensure their work was represented in the statement. The success of the policy group was rooted in its intentional formation and processes that acknowledged the distributed nature of digital preservation and emphasized the creation of a community of practice. Further, it laid the foundation for a more complete suite of preservation policies and forward-looking conversations about how to enact ethical and sustainable stewardship in digital collecting, access, and preservation practices.

Series/Report Name or Number

iPRES 2023

Type of Resource

text

Language

en

Copyright and License Information

Copyright held by the author(s). The text of this paper is published under a CC BY-SA license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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