Workshop Details

The Maintenance Culture workshop aims to increase small cultural heritage institutions’ capacity to preserve complex, born-digital, creative works. Complex, born-digital, creative works include digital design, time-based media art, software and net art, and virtual / augmented reality. Small cultural heritage institutions include libraries, archives, museums, historical societies, and other memory organizations who collect digital works. The workshops are intended to increase capacity for more complex, born-digital objects at institutions who are already preserving less complex digital objects such as photographs or documents. After completing the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Communicate barriers to preserving complex, born-digital, creative works at their institution

• Assess complex, born-digital, creative works to determine whether and how the collecting institution can commit to preserving it

• Draft a workflow for what to do if your institution acquires a complex, born-digital object

• Plan actionable steps towards collecting more complex, born-digital creative works than the institution is currently able to sustain access to

Participants will be asked to complete a virtual, asynchronous, pre-workshop class to learn about concepts that will be built upon in the workshop. The pre-workshop class will take around 3 hours to complete, depending on your prior knowledge of the concepts. The in-person workshop will focus on discussions, small group work, and independent work to accomplish tasks aimed at changing participants’ institutional preservation practices.

If you’re not sure if this workshop is for you, review the Workshop FAQ for more information on expectations around prior digital preservation knowledge.

Who Should Attend

Workers at collecting institutions including museums, archives, libraries, galleries, and other organizations that collect born-digital creative works like digital design, time-based media art, software and net , virtual/augmented reality and are seeking to better preserve and sustain long-term access to those materials. If most of the statements below describe you, the workshop will probably be a good fit. You...

• Work at a cultural heritage institution (library, archive, museum)

• Work at an institution that is actively collecting complex, born-digital, creative works, OR, is ready to start collecting those works after gaining more in-house expertise

• Are comfortable with basic digital preservation concepts

• Have a role in decision-making or implementation of digital preservation practices at your institution

• Are interested in participating in a local community of practice for sustaining access to born-digital, creative works

Location Information

Seattle Public Library

Central Library, 1000 Fourth Ave. Seattle, WA 98104

Howard S. Wright Family & Janet W. Ketcham Meeting Room

Information about accessibility at the Central Library is available on the Seattle Public Library’s website, including the information below:

The Library fully complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and provides accommodations by request for physical access, communications or other needs that ensure our services, activities and employment are available to people with disabilities. 

• Automatic doors at all main entrances

• Elevator access to all levels, with verbal cues at each floor at the Central Library

• Paid Parking

• Designated accessible parking spaces are available

• Single-Occupant All-Gender Restroom

• Multi-Stall Single-Gender Restrooms

• In compliance with the Washington State Law Against Discrimination (WLAD), the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), and the Seattle Municipal Code, service animals are welcome in all areas of the Library where members of the public are normally allowed to go.

Applications are closed. Selected participants will be notified no later than March 25, 2023. If you have any questions please send an email to elena@myriadconsultants.org.