Digital Preservation Tools for Data-Driven Futures
Navigating messy, (almost) real, born-digital data
When: March 13th 2026, 9.30-16.00
Where: UCD Campus (in-person only)

Full workshop description
Contemporary digital culture is constantly evolving: platforms are relentlessly updated and redesigned, formats change, metadata structures shift. Many of these materials are created through platforms controlled by third parties, which makes platform-generated content – such as messaging exports, social media archives and mobile device captures – difficult to manage using traditional preservation workflows. Yet, digital preservation practitioners are at the frontline, tasked with managing and preserving materials that were never designed to be stable.

This one-day workshop dives into the challenges of preserving born-digital materials through a critical, collections-as-data mindset: What must be understood, documented, and negotiated before ingestion can even begin? Participants will explore preservation tools while examining the structural complexity of platform-generated and mobile-based digital materials. They will reflect on preservation challenges across different practical use cases and engage in hands-on activities with synthetic contemporary data designed to surface hidden assumptions and mirror real-world archival scenarios.
Organisers & Contributors
The event is organised by Assoc. Prof. Amber Cushing (School of Information and Communication Studies) and Dr Giulia Osti (School of Computer Science), as part of the activities of the Insight Centre for Data Analytics at UCD. We are pleased to include a contribution from Andrew Jackson, Digital Preservation Specialist at the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC), bringing additional expertise in digital preservation practices.
Who Should Attend?
This workshop is designed for archivists, curators, data managers, researchers, and students in digital preservation, archival studies, or related fields. The event intentionally brings together participants with different levels of experience. Early-career professionals and students gain exposure to real-world reasoning and institutional constraints, while experienced practitioners engage in focused discussion on how preservation tools and workflows perform when confronted with complex, platform-mediated materials. Participants do not require advanced technical expertise: the workshop is centred around critical assessment and collaborative problem-solving.
Registration and Participation
Registration for the workshop will remain open until March 6th or the maximum number of participants is reached. Places are limited, so early registration is strongly recommended.
If the workshop reaches full capacity, additional registrants can join a waiting list by providing their name and email in the interest form (the registration form will point to that). Waiting list participants will be contacted in order of registration should a place become available.
As this is an in-person event with catering, we kindly ask participants to notify the organisers promptly if their availability changes. This helps us manage waiting list participants and ensure smooth planning. Registered participants will receive confirmation of their place and practical details (including a starter kit and venue information) closer to the event date.
Link to the Registration Form
https://forms.gle/CWpMi82LAeDfHhud9
Compact description (promo)
Contemporary digital culture is constantly evolving, making the preservation of platform-generated and born-digital content a growing challenge. Digital preservation practitioners are on the front lines, managing materials never designed for stability. Join our one-day workshop, Digital Preservation Tools for Data-Driven Futures, to dive into these challenges with a critical, ‘collections-as-data’ mindset.
👥 Who should attend? Archivists, curators, data managers, researchers, and students in digital preservation or related fields.
🔗 Registration link: https://forms.gle/CWpMi82LAeDfHhud9
Places are limited. Early registration is strongly recommended.
🏛️ The event is organised by Assoc. Prof. Amber Cushing (School of Information and Communication Studies) and Dr Giulia Osti (School of Computer Science) via the Insight Centre for Data Analytics at UCD, with a contribution from Andrew Jackson, Digital Preservation Specialist at the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC).