Access all archives – unlocking the value of digital collections

A look back at Archives*Records 2016 and an insightful week in digital preservation.

Last week the Preservica team descended on Atlanta for Archives*Records 2016, a conference that brings together members of the Society for American Archivists (SAA) and the Council of State Archivists (CoSA), totalling over 1,500 from the archival community across the US and beyond. With so many of our users in town, it was the perfect opportunity to host the Preservica 2016 North American User Group.

Bringing together over 40 members of our growing user community the meeting provided an invaluable platform (in addition to our on-line meetings) for users to collaborate on best practice, and to feedback to the Preservica team on upcoming software developments. The meeting was followed by a group dinner allowing further opportunity to continue conversations and knowledge share.

In addition to the User Group meeting Preservica hosted a number of workshops and panel sessions at the conference, including demonstrating the new ArchivesSpace Connector at the ArchivesSpace Members Forum. In a highly-rated workshop, designed to allow participants to get hands-on with digital preservation software, teams worked through a scenario to create digital collections, complete file format migrations and showcase their content in a customised access environment.

A key and consistent theme to come up in conversation throughout the conference was the requirement for access. Whether it’s required to meet a mandate or to share content publicly, organizations (including government, memory and corporate) are placing access high on their wish list, with an overwhelming desire to unlock the value of their collections and build a living and dynamic digital archive combining access with digital preservation.

So it was no surprise when 200 people squeezed into a room for a panel session focused on using digital preservation systems for creating customizable platforms for access. The session hosted by Preservica’s Mike Thuman saw Preservica Users including Texas State Library & Archives Commission, Massachusetts Archives & San Jose State University join the panel to talk about their access projects and highlight the benefits to their organizations.

Thank you to all those that attended one of the Preservica sessions and visited the team at the booth. We look forward to seeing you at next year’s event in Portland, Oregon!

The Preservica Team