New digital strategy ‘Plugged In, Powered Up’ launched

21 Jan 2020 02:48 PM

We are pleased to announce our new digital capacity building strategy, ‘Plugged In, Powered Up’, which will support the archives sector meet its digital ambitions. The strategy sets out an exciting plan of programmes, training and resources that will be delivered from now until 2022.

‘Plugged In, Powered Up’ reflects the issues and priorities identified through a large-scale survey of more than 300 archive professionals, carried out with Jisc. As a result, the strategy focuses on three main areas of digital archival work: engagement, access and preservation. There will also be a fourth strand focusing on digital skills more widely, such as advocacy, conversations with IT and the ability to make informed decisions around software procurement.

One of the strategy’s many complementary strands is a collaborative project with the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) called ‘Novice to Ninja’. Later this year, the project will make online digital preservation training available to practitioners around the world free of charge. Developed by experts in the digital preservation community, the ‘Novice to Ninja’ training aims to equip learners with the skills required to implement a simple and proactive digital preservation workflow within their organisation.

Emma Markiewicz, Head of Archive Sector Development at The National Archives, yesterday said:

“Although awareness of the need to preserve born-digital materials is high, the recent survey with Jisc identified a lack of confidence surrounding digital preservation. ‘Novice to Ninja’ and the other strands of our ‘Plugged In, Powered Up’ strategy aim to provide archival practitioners with the skills to take proactive steps towards digital preservation, access and engagement.”

To find out more about our new digital capacity building strategy, please visit the ‘Plugged In, Powered Up’ webpage.