2026
CRKN Virtual Conference: Creative Collaborations, Collective Momentum
Virtual
May 12 - 14, 2026
Community-Centred Digital Preservation with the Internet Archive
Thursday May 14, 2026
From 1:00pm to 1:30pm
Community Programs at the Internet Archive (IA) works with memory and research organizations in Canada and around the world to develop sustainable, community-responsive partnerships and programs for digital preservation. In this session, presenters will share information about two of IA’s community archiving programs– Collaborative ART Archive (CARTA) and Community Webs– which embody the power of collaborative approaches to building, managing, and preserving digital and born-digital collections.
The session will highlight recent initiatives to increase the diversity of voices contributing to and represented in the digital historical record. For example, CARTA has created opportunities for non-members to nominate significant web-based art resources for preservation. The program also created new avenues to enhance member-contributed metadata through a metadata remediation project, increasing item discoverability for the global public. Through these collaborative efforts, community partners ensure online-only art-related websites are accessible in the future for research, teaching, and creative inspiration.
Presenters will also showcase the Community Webs program's expansion and evolution beyond web archiving, outlining how members redress silences found in web archives and traditional collections with digitization initiatives and educational resources that support local community archiving needs.
Attendees will learn about IA’s approaches to building responsive and sustainable community-centred digital preservation programs and the evolution of collaborative collecting strategies in CARTA and Community Webs. The presentation will conclude with aspirations for continued work on building lasting connections with members of IA’s community-driven programs, as well as share more information on how attendees can get involved.
