This April, first-year Curating Community Digital Collections (CCDC) cohort participants and UW Madison iSchool graduate students Jessica Behrman and Kristina Warner presented a poster at the Midwest Archives Conference in Detroit, Michigan titled “Curating Community Digital Collections: Digital Preservation at Small Cultural Heritage Institutions.” This opportunity allowed them to share their experience at their host sites with other archivists in both large and small institutions, and more importantly share the digital preservation scholarship created by all of the CCDC 2018 participants.
Jessica Behrman, La Crosse Public Library Archives
“Attending MAC was a great opportunity to see what archivists and librarians are working on, and I was impressed to see so much collaboration happening in our field. I found this to be especially true with archive projects that were implementing new digital tools and required expertise in other subject areas. I think the idea of digital preservation still seems, to many, a huge and insurmountable task.
Our poster helped communicate that digital preservation initiatives can be implemented no matter the size of the institution. It was evident with many of those who stopped to chat with us during the presentation that they found the work we performed over one summer to be an impressive feat. Kristina and I expressed that everything we did at our host sites, and the tools we used to do so, can be performed in small steps. Because of my practicum with CCDC, I feel equipped to explain why digital preservation is essential for every type of information institution. I also have knowledge of and experience with useful DP tools I can carry into my future as an information professional.”
Kristina Warner, Outagamie Waupaca Library System (OWLS)
“Sharing this knowledge about our experiences was exciting. For many archivists, the thought of starting a digital preservation policy and workflow seems overwhelming. There are many articles talking about digital preservation, but to find examples of policies can be challenging. By talking to this varied group of archivists, we were able to share this documentation with others who are in the process of getting started.
Seeing others faces light up when they realized they can do it, and that there are resources to help them, made this experience of presenting a poster very rewarding. It was also great for Jessica and myself to touch base with those we worked with last summer during our CCDC practicum! I’m so thankful for the opportunity to be a part of CCDC last summer as I now feel adequately prepared to tackle digitization projects in my career and to protect the integrity of digital objects.”
Thank you, Kristina and Jessica, for representing CCDC at MAC. We look forward to following your careers and hope that path includes digital stewardship. Well done! For more information about CCDC and the 2019 cohort, visit Curating Community Digital Collections.
Curating Community Digital Collections is supported by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, #RE-85-17-0127-17.
