2026
CRKN Virtual Conference: Creative Collaborations, Collective Momentum
Virtual
May 12 - 14, 2026
All Hands on Deck: The Call for Collaborative Digital Preservation Practices for Data Reuse
Thursday May 14, 2026
From 3:30pm to 4:00pm
Digital preservation should be a collaborative effort that incorporates a diverse range of experiences and expertise to facilitate continued access and reuse of data. Yet digital preservation can be a lonely endeavour and often an afterthought. This is due to a number of elements: lack of understanding of preservation by researchers, funders, and even the larger research data management (RDM) community, the complexity of digital preservation work, the fact that preservation practices vary between institutions and there is no one-size-fits-all model, and a lack of overall capacity from a very small group of digital preservation practitioners. In addition to these challenges, the perception that digital objects will be around forever continues to obscure the actual decisions and work required to maintain access and use into the future.
This guided discussion proposal seeks to outline the challenges research data preservation face and create a brainstorming session with attendees to discuss points such as:
- How do we make digital preservation relatable?
- How do we conduct outreach activities to get researchers involved in preservation discussions?
- How do we break down silos between different preservation and RDM areas so we can learn from and lean on one another?
- How do we support smaller repositories trying to undertake this work?
The aim is to understand the challenges facing participants and discuss topics related to the questions listed above, the results of which could lead to the building blocks for a more robust digital preservation community.
