From: Kim Smilay <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2017 13:01:30 -0500

Joint Statement

The digital preservation landscape is one of a multitude of choices that
vary widely in terms of purpose, scale, cost, and complexity.  Over the
past year a group of collaborating organizations united in the commitment
to digital preservation came together to explore how we can better
communicate with each other and assist members of the wider community as
they negotiate this complicated landscape.

As an initial effort, the group drafted a Digital Preservation Declaration
of Shared Values that is now being released for community comment. The text
of the draft is below, and the live-working copy of the document is
available here
<https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cL-g_X42J4p7d8H7O9YiuDD4-KCnRUllTC2syfXSn5s/edit>
and open for your comments and suggestions.  The comment period will be
open until March 1st. In addition, we welcome suggestions from the
community for next steps that would be beneficial as we work together.
Comments, suggestions and observations may be communicated to the group at
[log in to unmask]  We also welcome volunteer efforts to
translate this declaration into additional languages.

******

December 11, 2017

Digital Preservation Declaration of Shared Values

Issued by representatives of Academic Preservation Trust (APTrust),
Chronopolis, CLOCKSS, Coalition for Networked Information (CNI), Digital
Preservation Network (DPN), DuraSpace, Educopia/MetaArchive Cooperative,
Stanford University - LOCKSS, Texas Digital Library (TDL), Council of
Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL).

Digital preservation combines policies, strategies, and actions that ensure
access to digital content over time. When successful, digital preservation
results in a cumulative record of human action and memory.

We are a group of collaborating organizations united in our commitment to
preserve the cultural, intellectual, scientific and academic record for
current and future generations. We believe that preservation should be
sustainable, affordable, practical, and available to all. We provide
services for the cultural heritage, research, and academic communities, and
all kinds of scholars.

The mission of our shared work is rooted in a set of core values. These
core values inform and  direct our collective work:

*Collaboration - We work together and favor open technologies but will
collaborate with any organization, including commercial vendors, that share
the values set out in this statement.

*Affordability - We endeavor to provide affordable services.

*Availability - We make available a variety of services for all, regardless
of institutional size or technical ability.

*Inclusiveness - We strive to promote and adopt inclusive practices in the
partnerships we form, the collections we preserve, and the organizations we
serve.

*Diversity - We develop and deploy a variety of platforms and technologies
to create a heterogeneous network that spans diverse geographic, technical,
and institutional environments.

*Portability/Interoperability - We recognize that digital preservation
involves moving data across systems and time. We design and maintain our
services to maximize the ease by which we port this data.

*Transparency/information sharing - We share information about costs and
technologies openly. As part of the cultural mission of digital
preservation, we all benefit by learning from others' experiences, good and
bad.

*Accountability - We are responsible to each other and the broader
community for employing ethical and transparent business practices.

*Stewardship Continuity - We will collaborate to help identify new
locations for at-risk content when one of our organization’s stewardship
cannot continue.

*Advocacy - We aim to inspire stakeholders at every level to engage, invest
in, and sustain preserving our collective cultural heritage and academic
record.

*Empowerment - We encourage capacity-building in our partners, members, and
the larger digital preservation community to sustain our shared goal.

Purpose of the Declaration of Shared Values

Values and professional ethics are at the core of our work and guide our
practices.

This declaration accomplishes the following:

*Summarizes ethical principles that reflect our core values and establishes
a set of specific ethical standards that should be used to guide our
efforts.

*Helps identify relevant considerations when professional obligations
conflict or ethical uncertainties arise.

*Provides ethical standards to which our community can hold us accountable.

*Socializes practitioners new to the field to our mission, values, ethical
principles, and ethical standards.

Further, the declaration of shared values does not specify which values,
principles, and standards are most important and ought to outweigh others
in instances when they conflict. Reasonable differences of opinion can and
do exist among our community. We will work together to resolve those
conflicts in ways that support and promote our common goal.

Our work and thinking will evolve over time. We will strive to include
stakeholders from all over the world and we invite those interested to join
us in working together to preserve the collective human record. Contact our
group at [log in to unmask] to ask questions and/or participate.

 ---

Craig Van Dyck

Executive Director

CLOCKSS Archive

[log in to unmask]

+1-973-600-7397 <(973)%20600-7397> mobile

orcid.org/0000-0001-6277-6013

www.clockss.org/