Community Survey WG

Every three years or so, the Community Survey working group conducts surveys among national and international communities in which characteristics of these networks are collected. The results of the survey are published as nestor materials in anonymous form. Profiles of the communities are created on the basis of the survey results, which are presented as a kind of registry on the nestor website if the individual communities agree to their publication.

Goals and tasks

Due to the complexity of the task, networks and projects have played a central role in digital preservation since the earliest developments in the 1990s. Only by bringing together the expertise and experience of different institutions and players is it possible to cover all facets of the complex issues surrounding the long-term preservation of digital resources.
While surveys such as the OPF Community Survey or the NDSA Storage, Fixity or Staffing Surveys are primarily aimed at long-term archiving institutions, the networks themselves have not been focused on so far. Having recognized this gap, the goal of nestor‘s Community Survey WG is to address these networks and make the situation more transparent.
The anonymous evaluation of the survey and the profiles provide an overview of the various facets, resources and focal points of long-term archiving networks worldwide. With this offering, the WG aims to improve transparency about networking in the field of digital preservation and promote knowledge transfer on this topic.
The Community Survey WG connects itself nationally and internationally to publicize the Survey and to encourage communities to participate in future surveys and have their characteristics published as profiles.

Contact

Dr. Monika Zarnitz, ZBW – Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft