What do you think you are playing at? NLI at Digital Preservation for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DPASSH) Conference 2026

Summary of the conference

Since 2015 DPASSH, organised by the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI), has brought together researchers, academics, cultural heritage and research institutions, libraries, archives and industry professionals in digital archiving and preservation to share the latest developments in research and project work.

The theme of this year’s conference was ‘play’ and highlighted the day-to-day creative strategies that build collaboration between digital archiving/preservation professionals and those working in software development, education and the arts. Collaboration is a key strategic value of the NLI, and a part of our Digital Preservation Policy is about sharing knowledge, resources and skills so digital collections can be preserved and made accessible to researchers and the public.

Digital collections are fragile, and it can be difficult to preserve content so that our users can access them in the future. Conferences like DPASSH help NLI staff working in the Born Digital Archives, Web Archives and Digital Preservation teams share their work and learn from others in the field in relation to their work on the born digital collections of the NLI.

NLI at DPASSH

The NLI was well represented at the conference, with both a poster outlining the work of the Web Archive team as well as a presentation by Della Keating and Kieran O’Leary on the use of a ‘Total Cost of Stewardship’ approach to developing digital collections.

Della and Kieran explained how the Digital Collections team had used the Total Cost of Stewardship model as a space for the Born Digital Archive and Digital Preservation teams to play and experiment to utilise and develop their skillsets so that the digital collections in their care can be properly stewarded and preserved in order to be accessible to NLI's users.

Other highlights of the conference included talks and workshops on a variety of topics including teaching digital archivists Python, HTML, CSS and JavaScript using basic game design, the European Open Science Cloud project on Core Preservation Processes to create a trustworthy digital archive, using apps to help the public collect information on heritage in Limerick, providing access to collections through online Story Maps, 3D digitisation at the Guinness Archive, and the challenges of preserving files from audio production software in the archives of Jazz Musician Ahmad Jamal and providing access to these files for users. 

One excellent example of the creative work being done in the field was the ‘Preservation & Perils’ game designed by Rachel Appel and Pax Crowley. The game is based on Dungeons & Dragons (dice and all) and is designed to help staff create trustworthy a digital repository to safeguard digital heritage by testing (or questing) potential scenarios that they might encounter. 

Thanks to the DRI team as well as Queen’s University and PRONI for delivering such a fantastic and well organised conference. It was a great event with valuable discussions and strong collaboration throughout.