# Presentation: 290354

## Custodians of Culture, Architects of Archives

-  Martin Halbert (Emory Univ., MetaArchive Cooperative) - Facilitator
-  Thib Guicherd‐Callin (Stanford University Libraries, LOCKSS/CLOCKSS)
-  Aaron Trehub (Auburn University, Alabama Digital Preservation Network)
-  Richard Pearce‐Moses (Arizona State Library, Archives, and Public Records)
-  Micah Altman (of Harvard University, representing the Data‐PASS project)
**NDIIPP Partner Meeting**
**Washington, D.C.**
**July 8, 2008 **

## Observations from the MetaArchive Cooperative

- Martin Halbert
- Emory University
- MetaArchive Cooperative

**NDIIPP Partner Meeting**
**Washington, D.C.**
**July 8, 2008 **

## The Need for Collaborative Approaches

- 	“The increased number and diversity of those concerned with digital preservation—coupled with the current general scarcity of resources for preservation infrastructure — *suggests that new collaborative relationships that cross institutional and sector boundaries could provide important and promising ways to deal with the data preservation challenge.** * These collaborations could potentially help spread the burden of preservation, create economies of scale needed to support it, and mitigate the risks of data loss.”
- 	- The Need for Formalized Trust in Digital
- Repository Collaborative Infrastructure
- 	   NSF/JISC Repositories Workshop (April 16, 2007)

## The Inception of a New Field

**Digital Preservation** is a new and emerging field now increasingly recognized and accepted by cultural memory organizations everywhere
- The questions are no longer the general “if” and “why”, but the more specific “how”, “who”, “when”, and “what”
- The NDIIPP community has stood on a green field and laid down the foundation stones for what is to come — ***This is important work, keep it up***

## The Rise of Distributed Digital Preservation Networks

- There is currently rapid growth of cooperative networks as a way of undertaking digital preservation activities
- Interest in implementation of this approach to digital preservation at all levels, ranging from small groups of historical associations to entire countries
- Represents a way to balance autonomy and solidarity of effort, independent control of assets and investment in a shared group infrastructure

## MetaArchiveCooperative

**A distributed digital preservation cooperative for digital archives **
- Established in 2004 under the auspices of and with funding from the National Digital Information and Infrastructure Preservation Program (NDIIPP) of the Library of Congress
- A functioning DDP network and cooperative for libraries and other cultural heritage organizations
- Sustained by cooperative fee memberships, LC contracts, and other sponsored funding
- Provides training and models for other groups to establish similar distributed digital preservation networks
- Fosters broader awareness of digital preservation issues

## New MetaArchive Activities

- Doubling in size with incorporation of new members during next six months
- Conducting workshops for and consulting with many new groups that are interested in emulating our model in specific communities (state, country)
- Developing new tools for cooperative efforts, including revised conspectus database, and experiments in format migration and indexing

## Growing Archives in MetaArchive

- Southern Digital Culture (national)
- Transatlantic Slave Trade Historical Data (international)
- Electronic Theses and Dissertations (international)
- Result of a strategic alliance between the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) announced at ETD 2008 in Aberdeen, Scotland

## The Way Forward

- There is audacity in hope for the future — ***there is strength in this audacity ***
- There is more that draws us together than separates us
- We as a community of cultural memory institutions share many values concerning our commitment to preserving a public web of knowledge, values that motivate us to work together cooperatively

## Contact Info

- Dr. Martin Halbert
- _[martin.halbert@emory.edu](mailto:martin.halbert@emory.edu)_
- 404-727-2204