Preservica introduces new grant program to help institutions initiate Digital Preservation efforts
Four institutions will be selected and provided two years’ worth of access to the digital archiving platform, helping to expand their purview as good stewards of digital content.
BOSTON, MA, OXFORD, UK / ACCESSWIRE / February 2, 2023 / Preservica, a global leader in Active Digital Preservation archiving, announced today its first ever grant program for Digital Preservation. The new program will support projects that aim to preserve diverse formats of materials threatened by technological obsolescence and make them accessible for future generations.
The Preservica grant program provides an opportunity for underfunded archives across all sectors to get their Digital Preservation projects off the ground, benefiting from industry leading technology that mitigates the risk of long-term data loss by ensuring high-value content can always be read and trusted over decades regardless of the file format it was created in.
Annually, four institutions will receive a fully funded Starter Plus (250GB) account for two years to help kickstart the Digital Preservation journey. The first recipient of this grant, Temple Rodef Shalom, one of the largest Jewish synagogues in the Eastern United States, was preliminarily chosen to assist in building out the program. Temple Rodef Shalom helped to inspire the initiative and worked closely with Preservica to provide the best experience possible for future applicants.
"With the two-year glide path enabled by this grant, we hope to generate the interest and funding to expand our online offerings beyond the space limitations of the initial grant," said Chris Gardner, Co-Chair of the Digital Archives Project for Temple Rodef Shalom. "Our mission is to encourage other synagogues across the US and Canada to bring their archive shelves to life for their congregations, for academic research and to enrich the vibrant history of Reform Judaism in North America."
Aubrey Shanahan, Onboarding Specialist for Starter, works closely with users like Temple Rodef Shalom and saw the need for a path for underfunded archives to begin their work in Digital Preservation.
"It has been an honor to put this grant program together, and I'm thankful for the encouragement and support from the rest of the team here at Preservica," said Shanahan. "As an archives professional, I understand the challenges facing libraries and archives, and it is important for me to give back to this community wherever possible. I hope this program can be a starting point for institutions to gain traction with their stakeholders so they can protect their assets according to best practices for decades to come."
"There has never been a more critical time for archive leaders to implement a Digital Preservation strategy that ensures the safe management of content," said Stuart Reed, Chief Product Officer, Preservica. "The Preservica team is thrilled to support such a worthy initiative that significantly improves public discovery and use of historical record collections, enriching a thriving community of scholars, teachers, and the general public."
Starter Plus grant accounts include 250GB of preservation storage, three users, a customized public portal with Google Analytics and bulk metadata editing capabilities.
A committee of Preservica employees and archives professionals will review all applications, taking a close look at the applicants' needs, the work they are doing and its importance to the greater archiving community.
The committee includes:
- Lori Ashley, Principal, Tournesol Consulting, LLC
- Halley Grogan, Digital Archiving Success Manager, Preservica
- Aubrey Shanahan, Onboarding Specialist for Starter, Preservica
- Melissa Prunty Kemp, M.A., M.F.A., Archivist and CEO, KPW-AMC, Inc.
Recipients are chosen based on the kind of digitization project, collection or exhibit they are wanting to showcase on their portal as well as assets they are looking to add to Starter Plus. The three additional winners will be chosen in late April 2023. Applications are open until March 31, 2023.
For more information about the Preservica grant program and how to apply, please visit starter.preservica.com/preservica-starter-plus-grant.
About Preservica
Preservica is transforming the way organizations around the world protect and future-proof critical long-term digital information. Available in the cloud (SaaS) or on-premise, our award-winning Active Digital Preservation™ archiving software has been designed from the ground up to tackle the unique challenges of ensuring digital information remains accessible and trustworthy over decades.
It's a proven solution that's trusted by thousands of businesses, archives, libraries, museums and government organizations around the world, including the UK National Archives, Texas State Library and Archives, MoMA, Yale and HSBC.
