The Digital Preservation Services Collaborative (DPSC) is an informal affinity group of community-based digital preservation service providers. Founded in 2017, DPSC emerged from a shared conviction that digital preservation is a cultural-heritage-wide challenge best met through collaboration rather than competition.
We are a special interest group, not a membership organization. Our participants are organizations that operate community-governed, mission-driven digital preservation services and technologies. What unites us is a common commitment to the values articulated in our Declaration of Shared Values and a shared concern for the long-term viability of community-based digital preservation.
DPSC strengthens community-based digital preservation by providing a trusted space for peer collaboration, advancing shared values, and building the collective capacity of participating organizations.
DPSC convenes quarterly meetings that provide a candid, collegial space for participants to:
- Share organizational and service updates, including successes and challenges
- Discuss issues and trends affecting the digital preservation community
- Explore opportunities for partnership and collaboration among participants
- Engage with topics grounded in our Declaration of Shared Values
- Invite guests and collaborators for topical conversations when relevant
Collaborations, projects, and partnerships may be catalyzed through DPSC conversations, but DPSC is not a legal entity and does not administer programs, hold funds, or direct shared work.
DPSC welcomes and encourages participation from community-based digital preservation service providers: organizations whose governance, mission, and financial model support long-term community interests through sustainable practices that advance inclusion, rather than profit-driven motivations that serve only shareholders and investors. This typically means non-profit or cooperatively governed organizations, though the distinguishing factor is governance: who does the organization ultimately answer to, and in whose interest does it operate? Participants in DPSC on an ongoing basis are expected to affirm the spirit of the Declaration of Shared Values.
We also welcome digital preservation practitioners, advocates, consultants, and emerging community-based networks who share our values and can contribute to and benefit from open conversation. Participation is open to these sub-groups, and we welcome their input and perspectives.
Our conversations are a safe space to discuss the realities of our work: the good, the bad, and the ugly. That candor depends on a shared orientation toward community benefit. Active engagement is at the heart of what makes DPSC valuable. We ask that participants come not just to listen, but to share their experiences, challenges, and perspectives. The collaborative is only as strong as the collective willingness to contribute.
DPSC’s work is grounded in our Declaration of Shared Values, which articulates our collective commitments around collaboration, affordability and sustainability, inclusiveness, environmental heterogeneity, portability and interoperability, openness and transparency, accountability, stewardship continuity, advocacy, and empowerment. The Declaration is a living document, revised periodically with input from participants.
DPSC operates as a lightweight, volunteer-driven group:
- Meetings are held quarterly and are open to all participants
- Meeting coordination is currently led by Nathan Tallman (Academic Preservation Trust), with facilitation rotating among participants based on meeting topics and interests
- There are no dues, formal membership requirements, or administrative staff
- Decisions are made by rough consensus among active participants
Organizations and individuals interested in participating in DPSC are welcome to reach out. We are particularly interested in connecting with community-based digital preservation networks that are forming or growing, statewide and regional preservation initiatives, and practitioners looking to share challenges and experiences with peers.
If you are interested in participating in the Digital Preservation Services Collaborative, please fill out this Expression of Interest, and we’ll be in touch.