National Digital Stewardship Alliance - National Information Standards Organization

July 2026 NDSA Recap

Thu, 06 Aug 2026 14:51:29 -0400

The NDSA Leadership Team is pleased to share a summary of activities that occurred across the organization in June 2026, as well as highlight past and upcoming activities, which can also be found on the calendar. If you are looking to catch up, you can read the June update.

NDSA is working to keep the listserv current with members and as a result, email addresses which bounce back will be removed from the list. You can always sign-up for the updated list at any time with your name and current email address. NDSA also has Slack available to members. Sign-up to view channels devoted to specific interest groups or job announcements.

NDSA Digital Preservation 2026 Conference

The call for proposals for the upcoming annual NDSA Digital Preservation conference has now closed with 58 submissions received. Proposal review by the planning committee is underway and will conclude on August 5. The conference will be held virtually on November 4-5, 2026. Submitters will be notified of acceptance starting in mid-August, and registration for the conference will open on August 16. The planning committee would urge anyone with an idea for a keynote speaker to submit a nomination.

Organizational Transition Updates

In July, the main focus for organizational transition was continuing to craft a cohesive set of Bylaws that will serve the needs of NDSA as an organization. This has entailed discussion and education about the role NDSA plays with the partner organizations assisting with this process.

Interest and Working Group Updates

Working Groups

The Climate Watch Working Group is in the process of drafting their next newsletter.
The Communications and Publications Working Group is working to review and update the style guide and publishing template used by all NDSA publications.
The Events Steering Committee is finalizing their membership and are in the process of developing a kick-off plan.
The Excellence Awards Working Group shared a proposed update to the award categories with NDSA Leadership which was accepted, with work to update the submission and judging process now underway.
The Staffing Survey Working Group is in the final stages of editing this report.
The Web Archiving Survey closed with 190 responses and the Web Archiving Survey Working Group is now working to review the data.

Upcoming Meetings and Opportunities

Use the NDSA Calendar to look for events of interest and find out when NDSA Leadership meetings are taking place.

The Standing Membership Working Group will be hosting the first NDSA Unplugged meeting on August 17 at noon Eastern Time for discussion about workflows, tools, challenges, and successes, while helping to build a community of digipres practice.
The Infrastructure Interest Group will be hosting their next meeting on September 14. The meeting topic is a discussion of the Oxford Common File Layout (OCFL) and associated specification editors.

Check out the Get Involved webpage for ways to deepen your engagement with NDSA. Current opportunities include:

The Infrastructure Interest Group is currently seeking a second co-chair. If you are interested in co-chairing this group please reach out to Leadership at chair [at] ndsa [dot] com to learn more and talk about group formation.
The longstanding Content Interest Group is currently on hiatus. If you are interested in chairing this group please reach out to Leadership at chair [at] ndsa [dot] com to learn more and talk about group formation.

June 2026 NDSA Recap

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 12:45:24 -0400

NDSA Digital Preservation 2026 Conference

The call for proposals for the upcoming annual NDSA Digital Preservation conference has been extended to July 15 with 53 submissions received so far. The conference will be held virtually on November 4-5, 2026. Submitters will be notified of acceptance starting in mid-August.

Organizational Transition Updates

Significant work to transition into a formal nonprofit in partnership with our colleagues at NISO was accomplished in June. The Maryland Department of Assessments and Taxation accepted and approved the Articles of Incorporation for “National Digital Stewardship Alliance, Inc.” on June 3, 2026. NDSA now has an Employer Identification Number with the Internal Revenue Service, and has voted to approve a Conflict of Interest Policy. Finally, Bylaws continue to be developed that will correspond with the needs of NDSA as an organization, with continued discussion and review occurring in July.

Interest and Working Group Updates

Working Groups

The Conference Planning Working Group subgroups have begun meeting and conference registration for the conference will open on August 16.
The Events Steering Committee is working to actively liaise with the Conference Planning Working Group and will begin attending the monthly planning meetings, as well as working with Interest Group co-chairs to understand and build out a cohesive events strategy for NDSA.
The Excellence Awards Working Group is working to finalize an update to the award categories and is onboarding Lauren Work as the co-chair for the working group.
The Membership Working Group has updated the member application form which will be used for new members going forward.
The Staffing Survey Working Group has completed the first draft of the report and it is now being reviewed by the Communications and Publications Working Group.
The Web Archiving Survey closed with 130 responses and the Web Archiving Survey Working Group is now working to review the data.

Upcoming Meetings and Opportunities

Use the NDSA Calendar to look for events of interest and find out when NDSA Leadership meetings are taking place.

The Standards and Practices Interest Group will be hosting their next meeting of the year on July 13. The meet topic is a discussion about the previous two meetings and how to think about implementing (or not?) developing standards around preservation and AI (DOAWG and C2PA).
The Infrastructure Interest Group will be hosting their next meeting of the year on September 14. The meeting topic is a discussion of the Oxford Common File Layout (OCFL) and associated specification editors.

Check out the Get Involved webpage for ways to deepen your engagement with NDSA. Current opportunities include:

The longstanding Content Interest Group is currently on hiatus. If you are interested in chairing this group please reach out to Leadership at chair [at] ndsa [dot] com to learn more and talk about group formation.

NDSA Welcomes Six New Members in Quarter Two of 2026

Wed, 08 Jul 2026 14:33:42 -0400

As of June 18, 2026, the NDSA Leadership unanimously voted to welcome its six most recent applicants into the membership:

Kronika
West Chester University
Hamilton Public Library Local History and Archives (Canada)
State Library of Queensland (Australia)
University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hamilton Library
The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kronika was eager to join the NDSA to align their operational rigor with a global community of practice dedicated to high-standard digital stewardship. They are deeply embedded in the intersection of technology and media heritage, an interest that stems from a desire to contribute to the evolving standards of digital preservation while gaining access to a network of peers who prioritize long-term accessibility over ephemeral trends. Kronika views membership as an opportunity to pressure-test their internal methodologies—specifically their focus on “tool-kit” in infrastructure, where the emphasis is on durable, high-fidelity preservation rather than rapid, low-quality data accumulation.

West Chester University joined NDSA as a commitment to the long-term preservation and access of the digital collections under their care. WCU University Libraries collect digital materials in two collections (Special Collections and the West Chester University Digital Commons institutional repository) that support research and learning for students, faculty, and members of their wider community. As these digital collections continue to grow, West Chester University Libraries are committed to the ongoing development of practices, workflows, and infrastructure guided by recognized standards and best practices in digital preservation.

The Hamilton Public Library Local History and Archives (Canada) is in the process of developing a digital preservation system, in order to better steward our growing collection of born-digital and digitized materials.Their goal, which they are on the way to achieving, is to continue collecting born-digital and digitized material that they can confidently preserve on a managed Preservica instance, monitored by knowledgeable staff. To help reach this goal, they joined NDSA because membership provides access to a breadth of digital preservation knowledge and know-how through engagement with fellow members. As newcomers to this field, they are eager to learn as much as they can and compare their experiences with those of similar institutions tackling similar challenges.

The State Library of Queensland (Australia) joined NDSA because their Strategic Plan 2025-29 has a key objective of ‘Collecting memories – Sharing knowledge and stories through [their] collections’. To achieve this one of the strategies is to ‘Preserve the collection for future generations through the development of resilient and robust systems and plans’. One of the main components is their Digital Preservation Maturity Plan 2025-28, based on the NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation framework.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hamilton Library is at the heart of the University’s intellectual and scholarly life. Its internationally recognized collections relating to Hawaiʻi, Oceania, the Pacific Islands, and Asia, support teaching, learning, and research both on campus and among scholars worldwide. To sustain its role as a center of knowledge and scholarship, the Library must ensure the long-term stewardship of its growing digital assets. Achieving this goal requires a deliberate shift from our current practices to a comprehensive, standards-based approach to digital preservation advocated by the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA). Membership in the NDSA is an important component of our strategy.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has long been a steward of one of the world’s greatest collections of art and artifacts, but now turns to consider the long-term preservation of their digital records—which support the research, scholarship, and overall informational access to a 2-million object collection. They are working to fully integrate digital preservation procedures and practices into their operations across several museum departments. NDSA membership provides an immense benefit by being part of a group that sets the pace on the important evolving area of digital preservation research.

Each organization participates in one or more of the various interest and working groups – so keep an eye out for them on your calls and be sure to give them a shout out. Please join me in welcoming our new members. To review our list of members, you can see them here.

- NDSA Membership Working Group

May 2026 NDSA Recap

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 14:58:28 -0400

The NDSA Leadership Team is pleased to share a summary of activities that occurred across the organization in May 2026, as well as highlight past and upcoming activities, which can also be found on the calendar. If you are looking to catch up, you can read the April update.

NDSA is working to keep the listserv current with members and as a result, email addresses which bounce back will be removed from the list. You can always sign-up for the updated list at any time with your current email address. NDSA also has Slack available to members. Sign-up to view channels devoted to specific interest groups or job announcements.

NDSA Digital Preservation 2026 Conference

The call for proposals for the upcoming annual NDSA Digital Preservation conference is now open. The conference will be held virtually on November 4-5, 2026. The deadline to submit a proposal is July 1, 2026 with submitters notified of acceptance starting in late July.

Organizational Transition Updates

Work to transition into a formal nonprofit continues in partnership with our colleagues at NISO. The NDSA trademark is now actively in the process of renewal in partnership with NISO, with paperwork filed with the U.S. Trademark Office. Specific artifacts necessary for incorporation are in various stages of completion. Articles of Incorporation have been drafted and the Coordinating Committee has voted to adopt these, which can now permit the registration process to begin. A Conflict of Interest policy is currently in the final stages of being drafted and will be voted on in the near future. Finally, Bylaws are in active discussion by the Leadership Team to ensure we adopt a set that will satisfy NDSA’s needs.

Interest and Working Group Updates

Working Groups

The Conference Planning Working Group has begun coordinating with the Events Steering Committee and is working to finalize details related to registration costs and sponsorship tiers.
The Events Steering Committee continues to recruit members and now has a page on the NDSA website where more information can be found..
The Excellence Awards Working Group held a subgroup meeting on May 28, 2026 to discuss award categories and submitted recommendations back to the full working group.
The Fixity Survey Working Group has published the 2025 NDSA Fixity Survey Report.
The Membership Working Group is working on updating the member application and refining the application review process.
The Staffing Survey Working Group is finishing the editing process for the report and will be submitting to the Communications and Publications Working Group soon.
The Web Archiving Survey Working Group has completed updating the survey, including revisions and new questions, and the survey is now open through June 24 for submissions. We welcome responses from NDSA members and the broader web archiving community.

Upcoming Meetings and Opportunities

Use the NDSA Calendar to look for events of interest and find out when NDSA Leadership meetings are taking place.

The Infrastructure Interest Group will be hosting their next meeting of the year on June 15. The meeting topic is anticipated to be global and regional distributed digital preservation strategies.
The Standards and Practices Interest Group will be hosting their next meeting of the year on July 13.

Check out the Get Involved webpage for ways to deepen your engagement with NDSA. Current opportunities include:

The Events Steering Committee is soliciting new group members. Please reach out to the co-chairs listed on the Events Steering Committee webpage to express interest or ask questions.
The longstanding Content Interest Group is currently on hiatus. If you are interested in chairing this group please reach out to Leadership at chair [at] ndsa [dot] com to learn more and talk about group formation.

It's Here! The 2026 NDSA Web Archiving Survey

Wed, 03 Jun 2026 08:02:04 -0400

Does your organization have a web archiving program? If so, we’d love to hear more about your web archiving work! The 2026 NDSA Web Archiving Survey aims to track the evolution of web archiving programs around the world, and to help us better understand what individuals and institutions are collecting and the kinds of infrastructure needed to support these collecting efforts. The 2026 Survey builds upon surveys previously conducted in 2022, 2017, 2016, 2013, and 2011.

The 2026 Survey is meant to be answered by one individual per organization. You (and your organization) do not need to be a member of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance to answer this survey.

Follow this link to access the survey: https://yalesurvey.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3PFJE3ieuEGAt0O. It will remain open until Wednesday, June 24, 2026, and should take no more than 15 minutes to complete.

We will make our best effort to protect your individual survey responses so that no one will be able to connect your responses with you or your organization. Any personal information that could identify you or your organization will be removed or changed before survey results are made public. We will combine your responses along with the responses of others and make the aggregated results public in late 2026.

Please contact ndsa-web-archiving-survey [at] googlegroups [dot] com with questions. Thank you for your participation!

Elena Colón-Marrero, Co-Chair, University of Michigan, Bentley Historical Library
Melissa E. Wertheimer, Co-Chair, Library of Congress
Aurora Charlow, Ohio University
Grete Graf, Yale University Library
David Schober, Internet Archive
Liam Sullivan, Harvard Business School

NDSA Welcomes Three New Members in Quarter One of 2026

Tue, 12 May 2026 10:09:35 -0400

As of March 19, 2026, the NDSA Leadership unanimously voted to welcome its three most recent applicants into the membership.

Human Rights Watch
The Art Institute of Chicago
Storacha

Human Rights Watch (HRW) is interested in joining NDSA to become part of the larger digital preservation community. They manage extensive collections of evidence and complex data, including audiovisual files and geospatial data. They are particularly interested in joining the Infrastructure Interest Group, and hope to learn from and collaborate with others who are navigating challenges to securely manage high-volume digital collections.

The Art Institute of Chicago is interested in joining NDSA as part of its efforts to solidify its commitment to digital preservation. They are eager to utilize the professional development opportunities offered by NDSA as well as to be part of a community of practice for digital stewardship. They are also interested in participating in all the work NDSA does to champion digital preservation and to represent the needs of a museum in developing digital preservation best practices.

Storacha is interested in joining NDSA because they develop content-addressed decentralized storage technologies intended to support long-term preservation. Their infrastructure distributes data across multiple independent storage providers with cryptographic proofs of storage.. They are eager to contribute their expertise to NDSA’s working groups around storage infrastructure, fixity, and the role of content-addressed systems in institutional preservation.

- NDSA Membership Working Group

April 2026 NDSA Recap

Thu, 07 May 2026 11:44:39 -0400

As a reminder, NDSA is publishing monthly posts summarizing the activities taken by the Leadership Team as well as highlighting past and upcoming activities, which can also be found on the calendar. If you are looking to catch up, you can read the March update.

NDSA is working to keep the listserv current with members and as a result, email addresses which bounce back will be removed from the list. You can always sign-up for the updated list at any time with your current email address, you must also include both your first and last name to be approved. NDSA also has Slack available to members. Sign-up to view channels devoted to specific interest groups or job announcements.

Organizational Transition Updates

Website update

Updates to the NDSA website continue. If you see any broken links or other errors, please report those to the chairs of the Communications and Publications Working Group.

Nonprofit Incorporation

Work to transition into a formal nonprofit continues in partnership with our colleagues at NISO. A consulting organization has been identified to assist with the process, including creating articles of incorporation, bylaws, registering with the IRS, and forming a formal board with officers. NISO is also assisting with the process of renewing the NDSA trademark.

Interest and Working Group Updates

Interest Groups

The Standards and Practices Interest Group held a meeting on April 20, 2026. Julie McVey, National Geographic Society and a founding member of the Digital Object Authenticity Working Group, spoke about the work of DOAWG which continued discussions about content authenticity and provenance in the context of AI.

Working Groups

The Conference Planning Working Group held a meeting on April 20, 2026. The group is working to finalize conference dates, finish assigning co-chairs to subgroups, and determining the conference theme with a call for proposals to be distributed in early May.
The Climate Watch Working Group has onboarded new members and has published their January to March 2026 newsletter.
The Events Steering Committee has finalized their charge which has been approved by the Coordinating Committee, and is now recruiting committee members and preparing for future conference planning.
The Excellence Awards Working Group continues to make progress on reviewing the awards categories to determine whether they could benefit from an update. This discussion was continued in a meeting on April 30, 2026 and subgroups continue to push the work forward.
The Fixity Survey Working Group has published the 2025 NDSA Fixity Survey Report.
The Membership Working Group held a New Member Orientation on April 23, 2026 to welcome and onboard the newest member organizations, as well as existing or prospective members.
The Staffing Survey Working Group is continuing to draft the survey report.
The Web Archiving Survey Working Group is actively working to finish drafting the new survey.

Upcoming Meetings and Opportunities

Use the NDSA Calendar to look for events of interest and find out when NDSA Leadership meetings are taking place.

The Infrastructure Interest Group will be hosting their next meeting of the year on June 15. The meeting topic is anticipated to be global and regional distributed digital preservation strategies.

Check out the Get Involved webpage for ways to deepen your engagement with NDSA. Current opportunities include:

The Events Steering Committee is soliciting new group members. Please reach out to the co-chairs listed on the Events Steering Committee webpage to express interest or ask questions.
The longstanding Content Interest Group is currently on hiatus. If you are interested in chairing this group please reach out to Leadership at chair [at] ndsa [dot] com to learn more and talk about group formation.

2025 NDSA Fixity Survey Report Published

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 23:00:04 -0400

The Fixity Survey Working Group is pleased to announce the publication of the 2025 Fixity Survey Report. As the third iteration of this survey (2017, 2021, 2025), this report continues the longitudinal study of fixity practices. The survey report and accompanying files can be found in OSF or on the Fixity Working Group webpage.

A total of 89 completed survey responses were used in the analysis of the data with 94% of respondents confirming that they use fixity information within their organizations. Checksums were the most common type of fixity information captured, often in conjunction with other methods. Practices vary widely in terms of when fixity information is captured or verified, the frequency of checks, where fixity information is recorded, and what checksum algorithms are used.

The working group was interested in understanding what causes fixity errors, when they happen, and what participants are doing to address them. While it was found that fixity errors were not very frequent, it was interesting to learn more about when and where these errors were occurring. The most common errors were corrupted bit streams or interrupted network transfers. It should be noted that a quarter of the respondents never encountered fixity errors. Actions taken to address fixity errors included checking to confirm if the result was in fact an error, troubleshooting the error, and replacing the incorrect file with a known good copy.

The Fixity Survey Working Group also conducted follow-up interviews with three organizations of different types and sizes to explore fixity practices in more detail. The resulting case studies, included within this report, provide a rich illustration of how fixity is used within specific organizations.

As digital collections continue to grow in scale and complexity, maintaining and improving fixity practices will remain essential to ensuring long-term trustworthiness and accessibility. The results of the 2025 Fixity Survey reaffirm the value of community-wide data gathering and knowledge sharing. They also underscore an important truth: good fixity practice is not a single standard, but a continuum of strategies grounded in institutional context, professional judgment, and a collective commitment to preserving digital heritage for the long term.

March 2026 NDSA Recap

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 09:47:31 -0400

NDSA is working to keep the listserv current with members and as a result, email addresses which bounce back will be removed from the list. You can always sign-up for the updated list at any time with your current email address. NDSA also has Slack available to members. Sign-up to view channels devoted to specific interest groups or job announcements.

Leadership Updates

The Climate Watch Working Group welcomed a new co-chair, Julie Shi, to act as the Lead Coordinator and Logistics. Sylvia Umana has resigned from her position on the Coordinating Committee.

Membership Updates

The NDSA Coordinating Committee voted on new members in the March 2026 Leadership Team meeting as part of the quarterly review of member applications. Look for the new member announcement soon.

Organizational Transition Updates

Website update

Updates to the content and infrastructure of the NDSA website continue. If you see any broken links or other errors, please report those to the chairs of the Communications and Publications Working Group.

Nonprofit Incorporation

NDSA continues to work with our partners at NISO to formally incorporate the organization as a nonprofit. This work is ongoing as members of the NDSA Leadership Team meet with recommended professionals to work through this process.

Interest and Working Group Updates

Interest Groups

The Infrastructure Interest Group has announced meeting topics for the rest of the year including distributed digital preservation networks in June and challenges and opportunities with OCFL adoption in September.

Working Groups

The Conference Planning Working Group held its first full planning committee meeting in March and is working to finalize dates for the 2026 conference and establish subgroups.
The Excellence Awards Working Group is making adjustments and improvements to the judging process and will bring recommended changes to the NDSA Leadership Team for review at a future meeting.
The Fixity Survey Working Group is working on final review of the report with the Communications and Publications Working Group.
The Levels of Preservation Working Group has released version 2.1 of the Levels of Digital Preservation and will resume office hours in the summer after the close of the academic year.
The Staffing Survey Working Group is finishing up the first draft of the survey report.
The Web Archiving Survey Working Group is finishing its review of past surveys and is incorporating considerations for international responders for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) adherence.

Upcoming Meetings and Opportunities

Use the NDSA Calendar to look for events of interest and find out when NDSA Leadership meetings are taking place.

The Membership Working Group will be hosting a New Member Orientation Call on April 23 at 1:00 pm Eastern. Both brand new and longstanding NDSA members are welcome and encouraged to attend. Keep an eye on the NDSA-All listserv for an announcement with sign-in details!
The Standards and Practices Interest Group will be hosting their second meeting of the year on April 20. The meeting will be a presentation and discussion that continues to focus on content provenance and authenticity.

Check out the Get Involved webpage for ways to deepen your engagement with NDSA. Current opportunities include:

The longstanding Content Interest Group is currently on hiatus. If you are interested in chairing this group please reach out to Leadership at chair [at] ndsa [dot] com to learn more and talk about group formation.

Announcing Version 2_1 of the NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 09:23:08 -0400

The NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation Working Group is pleased to announce the release of the NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation version 2.1, which now incorporates environmental sustainability considerations into the Levels recommendations and resources.

A new supplemental resource, the Environmental Sustainability Guide, is the main update for version 2.1. The new guide aims to help organizations embed environmental sustainability considerations into digital preservation decision-making when using the Levels to measure and guide digital preservation strategy. It includes core concepts that are broadly relevant to all aspects of digital preservation work as well as environmental sustainability decision points that connect with the Storage, Integrity, and Content Functional Areas of the Levels matrix. Focusing on decisions after the point of selection for preservation, the guide is intended to complement existing Levels resources.

In addition to the new guide, version 2.1 includes the following updates:
– Leaf icons on the Levels matrix that correspond to environmental sustainability decision points in the Environmental Sustainability Guide.
– Minor updates to the text of Storage Level 1 and Level 4 and Metadata Level 1 and Level 2 in the matrix.
– Significant updates to the Working Definitions of Terms based on community feedback and new terms introduced in the Environmental Sustainability Guide.
– Minor updates to the Implementation Guidelines, Assessment Tool, and Digital Curation Decision Guide to include environmental sustainability considerations and to emphasize that Level 4 need not be the goal for all organizations in all Functional Areas.

Version 2.1 revisions are not yet reflected in the Levels translations.

Thank you to all who participated in the process, whether in discussions at the August 2023 Levels open office session that set the direction for this revision, through feedback on early work products at the April 2025 Levels open office session, via public comment on the new guide, or in discussions at iPRES and NDSA DigiPres in October and November 2025. Your contributions helped to shape the final products for version 2.1. The Levels Working Group would also like to thank the Levels Steering Group and the Communications and Publications Working Group for guidance and recommendations throughout the revision.

If you have any questions about the Levels, or would like to translate any of the version 2.1 outputs, please reach out to the Levels Steering Group via our feedback form.

Members of the NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation Working Group (2024-2026) included:
Elizabeth La Beaud (co-chair), University of Southern Mississippi and Mississippi Digital Library
Keith Pendergrass (co-chair), Harvard Business School
Edith Halvarsson, The Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford
Sophia van Hoek, Municipality of The Hague
Sibyl Schaefer, University of California, San Diego
Dina Sokolova, Columbia University