TL;DR: Request for feedback
- The Australasia Preserves Digital Preservation (DP) Essentials Working Group is very pleased to be releasing our DP Essentials Pre-ingest and Ingest Modules, and we are seeking feedback.
- We had hoped to trial these modules in a face-to-face delivery session in March 2020 before publishing, but the COVID-19 pandemic halted these plans. As an interim measure we are releasing the modules for comment and feedback in their present state - noting that they are not necessarily in the right format for asynchronous or self-driven learning and are aimed at educators, trainers or others who would be interested in delivering the training.
- After going through the modules, please complete our feedback form. We'd love to know what you think.
- With the aim of creating a resource that can be re-used and adapted by anyone with an interest in furthering digital preservation practice, we are releasing this material under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0) which means that you are free to re-use and adapt any part of the material, with attribution.
The history
From its very beginning over two years ago, the Australasia Preserves community of practice has been fuelled by a passion for enhancing digital preservation practice in our region. As a community, we find strength in sharing our experiences, our knowledge, and our outputs – outputs such as the Digital Preservation Essentials Pre-Ingest and Ingest Modules we are excited to share for input and feedback.
These DP Essentials modules, focused on pre-ingest and ingest activities for digital preservation work, were intended for face-to-face delivery in pre-COVID 19 times. They have been in iterative development since 2018 in varied forms.
The story of Digital Preservation Essentials began at the very first meeting of Australasia Preserves in February 2018, when there was discussion around the idea of developing “digital preservation carpentry” lessons. Among many priorities and needs for digital preservation in our region that we discussed at our first meeting, there was clear demand for accessible, hands-on training for doing digital preservation work.
Throughout 2018 more discussion and activities revealed the importance of making sure that digital preservation concepts were tightly coupled with learning about relevant tools.
We carried out a survey to find out what people were interested in learning about most, and we had online meetings to discuss the survey and next steps for developing such work.
As a result, a small group of determined people progressed with developing a workshop.
Following the workshop, community discussion at the Australasia Preserves February 2019 monthly online meeting resulted in a decision to convene a volunteer working group on digital preservation education and training, comprising both educators and practitioners.
The two main goals of this working group were to:
And that’s not all … because then along came a pretty special fellow named Jarrod Harvey, who wanted to develop and release a targeted training program for archivists, focusing on automation.
Jarrod, being a keen and enthusiastic member of Australasia Preserves, was eager to contribute his skills and energy into developing and sharing another course to be released under the Australasia Preserves banner.
A version of his “Introduction to Automation for Digital Preservation Professionals” workshop was trialed in June 2019, and Jarrod then worked with members of the Australasia Preserves working group on digital preservation education and training to make his material suitable for online delivery.
Jarrod comments:
The face-to-face and online versions of Jarrod’s course are available on the Australasia Preserves web site.
The Digital Preservation Essentials modules have been developed for face-to-face delivery, and we haven’t yet tackled any online delivery mechanisms.
We had hoped to trial these modules in a face-to-face delivery session in March 2020 before publishing them, but we all know what happened to the world in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic halted many such plans. As an interim measure we are now releasing the modules for comment and feedback in their present state - noting that they are not necessarily in the right format for asynchronous or self-driven learning and are aimed at educators, trainers or others who would be interested in delivering the training.
Thus: we ask educators, trainers, students, practitioners both emerging and established, in fact, anyone with an interest to take a look at these modules and complete our feedback form.
We want to know what works and what doesn’t work. Does it all make sense? Is it useful? These questions and more we ask in the feedback form, and we’re really interested in hearing what people think.
With the aim of creating a resource that can be re-used and adapted by anyone with an interest in furthering digital preservation practice, we are releasing this material under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0) which means that you are free to re-use and adapt any part of the material with attribution.
The Australasia Preserves working group on digital preservation education and training is taking a well-earned break over the next month or two. Then we plan to reconvene in June/July 2020 to see what the feedback is like, and to assess what the next steps might be for any potential further development or enhancement of these training materials.
It’s been quite a journey for us: we hope you find these modules helpful for understanding pre-ingest and ingest activities for digital preservation practice.
The Digital Preservation Essentials Working Group
The Education Development Working Group
An extra special big thank you to Matthew Burgess, the current webmaster of the Australasia Preserves community – responsible not only for a complete refresh of our site (check it out!) but also for getting these modules up and ready for sharing with the world.
Time for that well-earned break. Jaye and Matt signing out for now!
These DP Essentials modules, focused on pre-ingest and ingest activities for digital preservation work, were intended for face-to-face delivery in pre-COVID 19 times. They have been in iterative development since 2018 in varied forms.
The story of Digital Preservation Essentials began at the very first meeting of Australasia Preserves in February 2018, when there was discussion around the idea of developing “digital preservation carpentry” lessons. Among many priorities and needs for digital preservation in our region that we discussed at our first meeting, there was clear demand for accessible, hands-on training for doing digital preservation work.
Throughout 2018 more discussion and activities revealed the importance of making sure that digital preservation concepts were tightly coupled with learning about relevant tools.
We carried out a survey to find out what people were interested in learning about most, and we had online meetings to discuss the survey and next steps for developing such work.
As a result, a small group of determined people progressed with developing a workshop.
First workshop and more development
The Digital Preservation Carpentry workshop was piloted in February 2019 at the 14th International Digital Curation Conference (IDCC). IDCC 2019 at the University of Melbourne |
 Workshop in action |
 Workshop participants |
 IDCC beer crew |
Following the workshop, community discussion at the Australasia Preserves February 2019 monthly online meeting resulted in a decision to convene a volunteer working group on digital preservation education and training, comprising both educators and practitioners.
The two main goals of this working group were to:
- Further develop the digital preservation carpentry workshop, based on attendee feedback and the instructors’ experience delivering it at IDCC
- Develop a more formal educational framework for designing and delivering digital preservation education and training in the Australasian region
And that’s not all … because then along came a pretty special fellow named Jarrod Harvey, who wanted to develop and release a targeted training program for archivists, focusing on automation.
A version of his “Introduction to Automation for Digital Preservation Professionals” workshop was trialed in June 2019, and Jarrod then worked with members of the Australasia Preserves working group on digital preservation education and training to make his material suitable for online delivery.
Jarrod comments:
I really wanted to get involved in supporting the education efforts of this vibrant and supportive community in some way. I got lucky when I met a librarian during a lunch break at a conference who suggested that I teach scripting for archivists! I immediately started brainstorming some practical exercises that could allow a digital preservation practitioner with limited technical knowledge start producing results straight away. I had a lot of fun making this course, and the fact that it's been tested by dozens of people so far with an overwhelmingly positive response makes it even better! If you've ever been curious about learning concepts like the command line or writing lines of code to make stuff happen to your files automatically, I think you should give this course a try.
The face-to-face and online versions of Jarrod’s course are available on the Australasia Preserves web site.
State of the current Digital Preservation Essentials modules and request for feedback
We had hoped to trial these modules in a face-to-face delivery session in March 2020 before publishing them, but we all know what happened to the world in March 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic halted many such plans. As an interim measure we are now releasing the modules for comment and feedback in their present state - noting that they are not necessarily in the right format for asynchronous or self-driven learning and are aimed at educators, trainers or others who would be interested in delivering the training.
Thus: we ask educators, trainers, students, practitioners both emerging and established, in fact, anyone with an interest to take a look at these modules and complete our feedback form.
We want to know what works and what doesn’t work. Does it all make sense? Is it useful? These questions and more we ask in the feedback form, and we’re really interested in hearing what people think.
With the aim of creating a resource that can be re-used and adapted by anyone with an interest in furthering digital preservation practice, we are releasing this material under a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC BY 4.0) which means that you are free to re-use and adapt any part of the material with attribution.
The Australasia Preserves working group on digital preservation education and training is taking a well-earned break over the next month or two. Then we plan to reconvene in June/July 2020 to see what the feedback is like, and to assess what the next steps might be for any potential further development or enhancement of these training materials.
It’s been quite a journey for us: we hope you find these modules helpful for understanding pre-ingest and ingest activities for digital preservation practice.
The credit section
There is no way to count the hours, days, weeks, and months that the following people have put into this work. Many thanks are due to:The Digital Preservation Essentials Working Group
- Matthew Burgess, State Library of New South Wales
- Carey Garvie, National Archives of Australia
- Lachlan Glanville, University of Melbourne
- Valerie Love, National Library of New Zealand
- Gene Melzack, University of Melbourne
- Peter Neish, University of Melbourne
- Rachel Tropea, University of Melbourne
- Jaye Weatherburn, University of Melbourne
The Education Development Working Group
- Leisa Gibbons, Curtin University
- Ross Harvey
- Gene Melzack, University of Melbourne
- Jessica Moran, National Library of New Zealand.
- Gillian Oliver, Monash University
- Sophie Shilling, Royal Historical Society of Victoria
- Elizabeth Tait, RMIT University
- Jaye Weatherburn, University of Melbourne
An extra special big thank you to Matthew Burgess, the current webmaster of the Australasia Preserves community – responsible not only for a complete refresh of our site (check it out!) but also for getting these modules up and ready for sharing with the world.
Time for that well-earned break. Jaye and Matt signing out for now!
