When people hear the phrase digital preservation, they often think about servers, storage systems, and complex technology. While those things are certainly part of the picture, a recent webinar featuring Dr. Chelsea Denault of the Michigan Digital Preservation Network (MDPN) offered a refreshing reminder that successful preservation efforts are ultimately about people.
In conversation with Alicia Wise and Gali Halevi, Chelsea shared the story of how MDPN was built, the values that shaped it, and why collaboration has been central to its success. What emerged was not simply a discussion about preserving digital content, but a broader conversation about community, resilience, and the importance of making preservation accessible to everyone.
MDPN was created to help cultural heritage organizations across Michigan preserve their digital collections. Its members include libraries, museums, archives, historical societies, and other organizations responsible for caring for local history and cultural memory. Rather than expecting each institution to build and maintain its own preservation infrastructure, MDPN provides a shared statewide network where resources, expertise, and technology can be pooled for the benefit of all.
This collaborative approach is particularly important for smaller organizations. While large universities may have dedicated staff and resources for digital preservation, many local history organizations rely on small teams or even volunteers. By creating a shared system, MDPN has made it possible for organizations of all sizes to participate in preservation efforts that might otherwise be out of reach.
Throughout the discussion, Chelsea repeatedly returned to the idea of community. In fact, she described one of MDPN's greatest achievements not as a technical accomplishment, but as the creation of a supportive environment where members can learn from one another. Through training, office hours, workshops, and ongoing conversations, organizations are able to share challenges, ask questions, and exchange ideas without fear of judgment.
That sense of openness has helped remove some of the intimidation that often surrounds digital preservation. Many organizations know preservation is important but are unsure where to begin. Others worry that they lack the expertise or resources to do it properly. By bringing people together and creating space for honest conversations, MDPN has helped transform preservation from something that feels overwhelming into something that feels achievable.
One of the most interesting insights from the webinar was that MDPN started with values before it started with technology. During the network's early planning stages, stakeholders from across Michigan came together to discuss what success would look like and what principles should guide their work. Those conversations led to a strong commitment to equity and accessibility, ensuring that smaller and under-resourced organizations would not be left behind.
That commitment can be seen in the network's membership model, where larger institutions contribute more resources so that smaller organizations can participate. Rather than viewing preservation as a service available only to those who can afford it, MDPN has approached it as a shared responsibility that benefits the entire community.
The same philosophy shaped the network's recent Implementation Toolkit, developed through support from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS). The toolkit was designed to help others build similar preservation networks by sharing practical resources and lessons learned. What stands out about the toolkit is that it focuses just as much on governance, community building, and user engagement as it does on technical infrastructure. As Chelsea noted during the webinar, digital preservation is not simply a technical problem. It is also a people problem.
That perspective extends to the technology choices MDPN has made. One of the network's goals has been to make preservation as easy as possible, particularly for organizations with limited technical expertise. Chelsea described this vision as "drag-and-drop digital preservation." The idea was to create workflows that remove unnecessary complexity and allow users to focus on preserving their content rather than navigating technical barriers.
That philosophy extends directly into the technology powering the network. MDPN uses LOCKSS 2.0 as its preservation infrastructure, providing distributed storage across multiple preservation nodes. However, Chelsea emphasized that robust preservation technology alone is not enough if the process of getting content into the system is too difficult for users.
One of MDPN's guiding goals was what Chelsea described as "drag-and-drop digital preservation." The team wanted preserving digital content to be as straightforward as moving files from one folder to another. Recognizing that many smaller libraries, museums, and historical societies do not have dedicated technical staff, they focused on removing as many barriers as possible from the deposit process.
After evaluating several options, MDPN selected DART (Digital Archivist's Resource Tool), developed by APTrust, as the tool that would simplify content preparation. DART allows users to drag and drop files, package them according to the BagIt specification, and send them to a designated storage location with minimal technical effort.
Within the MDPN workflow, submitted content is first deposited onto a staging server before being harvested by preservation nodes distributed across the network through LOCKSS 2.0. While the underlying preservation architecture is sophisticated, the user experience remains intentionally simple. As Chelsea explained, making preservation easy enough for anyone to use has been one of the network's greatest strengths and a key factor in encouraging widespread adoption.
The conversation also touched on why this work feels especially urgent today. Climate-related disasters, political uncertainty, funding challenges, and other disruptions all pose risks to the information we rely on to understand our history and culture. Chelsea spoke about increasingly severe weather events in Michigan and the broader need to protect digital collections from both environmental and geopolitical threats.
Distributed preservation networks offer an important layer of resilience because they store content in multiple locations. If one site is affected by a disaster, copies remain available elsewhere. As the discussion expanded to a global perspective, participants reflected on the growing importance of preserving diverse histories, languages, cultures, and research outputs from around the world. Preservation, in this sense, becomes more than a technical exercise. It becomes a way of safeguarding collective memory for future generations.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the webinar came when Chelsea described digital preservation as a road trip. Every organization, she explained, is at a different point on the journey. Some started earlier. Some have more resources. Some are still figuring out where to begin. None of that means one organization is better than another.
The metaphor resonated because it acknowledged the realities many organizations face. Sometimes priorities shift. Staff members take on additional responsibilities. Projects pause. Progress slows. That's all part of the journey. The important thing is knowing that you can always get back on the road.
Even better, road trips are easier when you have companions traveling alongside you.
That simple idea captured the spirit of the entire conversation. Digital preservation does not have to be a solitary effort, nor does it require perfection. It thrives when people work together, share knowledge, and support one another along the way.
As MDPN continues to grow and share its experiences with others, its leaders hope the model can inspire similar efforts elsewhere. The vision extends beyond preserving Michigan's history. It is about helping communities everywhere build sustainable, collaborative approaches to protecting their digital heritage.
And like any good road trip, the journey may include a few unexpected stops along the way, but that is often where some of the best discoveries happen.
About The Michigan Digital Preservation Network (MDPN): The Michigan Digital Preservation Network (MDPN)is a collaborative initiative established in 2019 to help Michigan's libraries, museums, archives, historical societies, and other cultural heritage organizations preserve digital collections for the long term. Created in response to a statewide assessment that identified significant gaps in digital preservation capacity, MDPN provides shared access to trusted digital preservation infrastructure while fostering a statewide community of practice. Through collaboration, shared expertise, and sustainable preservation strategies, MDPN works to protect Michigan's digital cultural heritage and ensure it remains accessible for future generations.
You can re-watch the webinar, below: