How preservable is your complex digital project? Introducing a Preservability Self Assessment Tool
Angela Spinazzè Scott Witmer Karen Hanson Jonathan Greenberg Thib Guicherd-Callin
This workshop invites attendees to experiment with a new Self Assessment Tool that identifies preservability risk factors for complex works and offers recommendations to content creators that could improve their project’s preservation outlook. The workshop is for anyone preserving complex works (or interested in doing so) that may need to assess their preservability. It is especially relevant to those who interface with content creators and have opportunities to give feedback to improve preservation outcomes - for example, those working with digital humanities researchers.

The tool is being developed from five years of research into the preservability of new forms of scholarship (i.e., complex works characterized by the variety of digital enhancements such as audio, video, data visualizations, nonlinear navigation, etc., that are integrated alongside or in lieu of text). For this research, preservation experts [worked with publishers/platforms][1] and [evaluated complex publications][2] to determine their risk factors for preservability. From this they suggested [interventions (“Guidelines”) to reduce risks][3] based on preservation method (web archiving, export etc.) and format. 

The research identified a need to share advice about improving preservability of scholarship with content creators in an actionable way. The Self Assessment Tool aims to meet this need. The tool uses a process workflow that unfolds over several conversations. It includes a set of questions and access points into the Guidelines.

The workshop will start with a short introduction to the Self Assessment Tool, highlighting scenarios from the research that illustrate features that can be difficult to preserve alongside relevant guidance for those scenarios. In small groups, participants will then test facets of the tool working through questions, identifying risks, and mapping them to suggested interventions from the Guidelines. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own examples of scholarly works with preservation challenges and to explore the Guidelines, considering how they might be implemented to improve preservability. 

Finally, team members will lead a conversation about attendees’ experiences working with the tool, seeking insights into areas for improvement, and an understanding of how useful the tool could be for the communities with whom they work.


  [1]: https://guides.nyu.edu/blog/The-Andrew-W-Mellon-Foundation-Awards-NYU-502400-For-Libraries-Project-to-Expand-Capabilities-F
  [2]: https://archive.nyu.edu/handle/2451/63332
  [3]: https://preservingnewforms.dlib.nyu.edu/
approaches to preservation from document to data