DPOE Background

Since its inception, the DPOE team has been active in researching and developing a program that can meet the digital preservation education needs of individuals currently working in the field. As part of this effort the DPOE team has defined training needs, reviewed existing digital preservation curricula, and compiled core principles for digital preservation training.

Growing a National Trainer Network
From September 20-23, 2011 DPOE held its first national Train-the-Trainer Workshop. Twenty-four working professionals from the six regions of the United States came to the Library of Congress to learn how to teach digital preservation and become Digital Preservation Topical Trainers. Topical Trainers then provide digital preservation training events in communities across the country. Moving forward, DPOE will continue to hold Train-the-Trainer Workshops to broaden the reach of the Trainer Network. Since the network's creation, subsequent Train-the-Trainer Workshops have been held in Alaska, California, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, and Mississippi in the United States, and Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, have expanded the network to 217 Digital Preservation Topical Trainers.

Defining Training Needs
To hone in on national digital preservation training needs, DPOE conducted a needs assessment survey in the Summer and Fall of 2010, and again over the summer of 2014. In 2010, 868 archivists, librarians, information officers, corporate executives, and similar professionals responded to the survey. A significant number of them identified a need for practical digital preservation information and hands-on training. The results of the survey are available in an Executive Summary [PDF], as cross-tabulated  questions [PDF], and are recorded by percentage [PDF].

Reviewing Curricula
During the winter of 2010 DPOE reviewed the curricula of five digital preservation training providers:

• Cornell University-ICPSR Digital Preservation Management Workshops
• Educopia Institute, MetaArchive Cooperative
• LYRASIS
• University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science, Graduate Certificate in Digital Information Management program
• University of North Carolina, DigCCurr (Digital Curation Curriculum) program

This review helped DPOE to craft a more targeted curriculum for working professionals.

Forming Core Principles
A working group of DPOE instructors drafted a set of core principles for digital preservation training. These principles are intended to encourage the development of a well-formed curriculum for inclusive training events that are offered to appropriate audiences by trained instructors. They are loosely modeled on the principles developed in A Framework of Guidance for Building Good Digital Collections by the National Information Standards Organization (NISO).