You have likely seen an announcement this week from the Digital Preservation Network (DPN) announcing its intentions to dissolve the organization.
The Texas Digital Library (TDL) has participated in DPN both as a preservation node within the network, and as a consortial member. Several of our members have deposited digital collections into DPN, either as standalone members of the organization or under the TDL consortial membership. As a result of DPN’s dissolution, we will no longer be able to provide DPN as an option for distributed digital preservation services. Additionally, members who have deposited content in DPN will not be able to leave their content there in perpetuity.
Despite our disappointment at this turn of events, the Texas Digital Library and the TDL Governing Board seek to assure our members of two things:
- TDL members’ content is secure. For those members who have stored content in DPN, we will work with you to ensure the safe transition of deposited content. We are developing options for restoration or transfer of data to other storage (e.g. Chronopolis), and will keep your content in a steady state until you and we are ready to make any transfers.
- TDL continues to provide distributed digital preservation storage services. We have constructed our programs and services with an eye towards resilience, in case of failure of any particular platform or organization. As a result, we can and will continue to provide distributed digital preservation services through our other partnerships. As a node in the Chronopolis network, for instance, we provide access to digital preservation storage similarly rooted in the academic and cultural heritage communities and similarly robust in terms of geographic and organizational diversity.
Furthermore, TDL is working in close concert with the other preservation nodes that were also part of the DPN network (including APTrust, Chronopolis, and HathiTrust), and we will continue to pursue future partnerships that build on the excellent work accomplished by the DPN collaboration.
Our partnerships with these other preservation nodes are strong and lasting; our collective commitment to community-driven digital preservation services is unshaken; and we believe the current circumstance provides rich opportunity to prove the value of multi-institutional collaborations to safeguard the valuable digital collections of the Academy. As a group, the nodes of the DPN network have issued a joint statement outlining our shared commitment to continuing our work providing digital preservation services, which you can view here.
We have developed a set of FAQS with additional information and will be reaching out to affected institutions individually. If you have questions or concerns, please reach out to TDL at info@tdl.org and we will schedule time to discuss them.
Sincerely,
| Lisa German
Dean of Libraries, University of Houston Chair of the TDL Governing Board |
Kristi Park
Executive Director Texas Digital Library |