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Digital Directions

DIGITAL DIRECTIONS: Foundations for Digital Collections 

November 17-19, 2026 (Tuesday-Thursday) * Online

Description Agenda Registration Logistics Code of Conduct

 

Join us for a comprehensive overview of digital preservation, presented by information professionals with deep experience in the preservation of cultural heritage materials. During three half-days of live, interactive, online training, you will learn foundational concepts, good practices, and practical strategies for managing digital collections, and you’ll gain confidence in decision-making for the preservation of your digital assets.

Topics include:

  • key concepts and terminology in digital preservation
  • building a digital project
  • metadata
  • copyright
  • digital preservation tools 
  • special considerations for audiovisual and born-digital materials
  • digital storage

The program will introduce you to free resources and tools you can use for digital preservation, and you’ll have the opportunity to connect via small group discussions with faculty members and with peers who face similar challenges. Participants will develop a clearer understanding of the next steps they should take to strengthen their organization’s digital preservation program.  

What to Expect 

  • The number of registrants for Digital Directions is limited to 125 to ensure that each participant has opportunities to interact with faculty and attendees.  
  • Each livestreamed presentation is 45-60 minutes and is followed by 15-30 minutes of audio/video-enabled Q&A with the presenter.  
  • Registrants will have access to all presentation sessions during the conference as well as on-demand access to recordings of the sessions for three months afterward.
  • See the Logistics page for more information about conference access. 

Who Should Attend?

Do you have collections that need to be digitized, but you’re not sure where to start? Are you trying to bring several digital projects together into a cohesive digital preservation program? Or are you well into a digital collections project and need a refresher on the latest standards and best practices? 

Digital Directions is geared toward those working with digital collections at mid- and large-sized archives, libraries, museums, historical organizations, government agencies, corporate archives, and other organizations that steward digital collections. Students are also welcome, and a discounted student registration rate is available. Prior digital preservation experience is not required to attend, but familiarity with some basics may be helpful. Registrants will receive advanced access to the NEDCC Training Hub, where pre-readings and selected resources will be suggested for those who wish to complete preparatory work.

Participant Comments from the November 2025 Digital Directions:

  • “As we look to digitizing our archives in the future, Digital Directions refreshed the knowledge I learned in my MLIS program while also bringing me up-to-date with the latest standards and best practices.”
  • “The knowledge I took from Digital Directions will allow me to take better care of our tens of thousands of digitized collections images of 3D objects, archaeological artifacts, and documents, ensuring that they're preserved and not just stored. It also gave me the confidence and resources to begin managing a quickly-growing archive of video files taken by our institution's videographer and ensure that they'll be available when we need them and preserved for future generations. It also gave me a push to document all the procedures and workflows that I've been putting off documenting- future staff here will thank Digital Directions for this!”
  • “I came away from this program with specific strategies and resources to help me navigate how to process a born-digital collection…. This sort of collection is brand new for my institution, and so the expertise I gained through attending Digital Directions will aid me in creating foundational policies and workflows for my collections. Additionally, I now have clear benchmarks in mind for archival storage, which will aid me in setting goals for my institutions and advocating for these needs with relevant stakeholders.”
  • “Digital Directions was great! It was a great refresher on my previous education and I learned new skills and tools!”
  • “Thank you so much! This was a great program and I learned a lot. I loved having opportunities to speak with the presenters at the end of each day. I also really appreciate all the resources that each presenter pointed us to, and I'm looking forward to going through them and learning even more.”
  • “I have long admired the work of the NEDCC, so getting to attend Digital Directions was such a treat. As an early career archivist, I found all the sessions very helpful and grounding. Not only did I come away with great resources, I feel these sessions helped me center my thinking and remember my own skills and training in a way that has bolstered my confidence in my ability to successfully care for my collections. Thank you so much!”

TO LEARN MORE about the Digital Directions program, view the Agenda.

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