Digital Preservation Virtual 2026 - Call for Proposals

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Conference Format and Dates

Digital Preservation 2026 will be held virtually on November 4-5, 2026.

Conference Theme: Striking a Balance: Optimizing Labor for Sustainability and Resilience

As digital preservation professionals, we are accustomed to juggling diverse tasks and balancing multiple priorities. However, recent technological and political developments have impacted our perspectives on labor and how we can best allocate resources and effort. For the 2026 NDSA Digital Preservation conference, we invite proposals that explore the ways that we approach, manage, and perform labor from multiple angles. Which tasks can we assign to software applications, and which still require human intervention? How can we leverage the potential benefits of AI tools while protecting the security and integrity of our collections and digital assets from unauthorized exploitation? Our current reality of budget cuts and hiring freezes is coupled with ever-expanding digital collections. With this reality, what are the practical limits of our capacity and potential, and how do we line those up with our visions and ideals? How can we advocate differently to secure resources that can support a resilient preservation infrastructure in the midst of humanitarian and environmental crises? How can effective programs be established in the midst of constant change? Once established, what steps can be taken to stabilize a digital preservation program and ensure its continuance? What opportunities exist for community engagement that might help navigate these emerging challenges? What opportunities can we create? What self-care strategies can digital preservation practitioners adopt to manage the demands of productivity and the stress of an ever-changing environment?

Call for Proposals

We invite presentations that relate to the conference theme. Possible topics include but are not limited to:

  • Digital preservation and curation
  • Born-digital collections
  • Preservation metadata
  • Partnerships and consortia
  • Advocacy and outreach
  • Donor relations
  • Emotional labor and burnout
  • Project management
  • Change management
  • Contingency planning
  • Staff management
  • AI and machine learning in digital preservation
  • Workflows
  • Digital preservation tools
  • Copyright and privacy issues

Submission Information

Submission length and format

  • 5-minute lightning talks
  • 15-minute talks or demos. Talks will be grouped into panels of three presentations on a similar theme with a shared 15-minute question and answer period for the hour-long session.
  • 25-minute talks or demos. Talks will be grouped into panels of two presentations on a similar theme with a shared 10-minute question and answer period for the hour-long session.

Submission Requirements

  • Proposal title
  • First and last names, organizational affiliations, and email addresses for all authors / presenters
  • Abstract (50 words max)
  • Proposal (250 words)
  • All submissions are under a CC-BY 4.0 license, which allows for sharing and adaptation of content but requires appropriate credit and an indication of any changes made by others. Presenters must agree to share their work under this license in the submission form. After DigiPres 2026, works will be uploaded to NDSA’s YouTube channel and made available for viewing.

Evaluation Criteria

All submissions will be peer-reviewed by NDSA’s Digital Preservation 2026 Program Committee. The DigiPres Planning Committee will give strong preference to programming that is fully inclusive and reflects a wide range of expression and identity. When evaluating proposals, the Planning Committee will:

  • Consider the contribution of the submission to the overall conference program,
  • Recommend the proposal on a scale of 1-5 whether to reject or accept the proposal, and
  • Rate their familiarity with the proposal topic on a scale of 1-5 (1 being completely new, 5 being very familiar).
  • They may recommend the proposal for presentation as a lightning talk.

Submit your Proposal

Submit your proposal now. The submission deadline is July 1, 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.

Presenters will be notified of their acceptance starting in late July. All presentations must be recorded for playback during the conference. Presenters should be available for a live question and answer period during the scheduled session time. Presenters will receive support in the form of tutorials, resources, and individual assistance.

Note: All conference attendees are expected to abide by the NDSA Code of Conduct, and proposals should be submitted in the spirit of NDSA’s Values and Principles.

Questions?

Feel free to reach out to ndsa.digipres@gmail.com and someone will get back to you as soon as possible.

About the NDSA and Digital Preservation Virtual 2026

NDSA is a consortium of over 275 organizations committed to the long-term preservation and stewardship of digital information and cultural heritage. Digital Preservation 2026 is the conference hosted by NDSA. Open to members and non-members alike, it highlights the theory and practice of digital stewardship and preservation, data curation, the digital object lifecycle, and related issues.