Jennifer Ferretti, Author at DLF Forum 2021 https://forum2021.diglib.org Just another CLIR Dev Sites site Mon, 18 Oct 2021 17:07:55 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://forum2021.diglib.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2021/03/300x300-150x150.jpg Jennifer Ferretti, Author at DLF Forum 2021 https://forum2021.diglib.org 32 32 Session Highlight: Birds of a Feather Sessions at the DLF Forum https://forum2021.diglib.org/2021/10/14/birds-of-a-feather-sessions-at-forum/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=birds-of-a-feather-sessions-at-forum Thu, 14 Oct 2021 21:12:21 +0000 https://forum2021.diglib.org/?p=1577 Team DLF is excited to bring a new session format to our virtual 2021 Forum: Birds of a Feather, or BOAF, sessions. These sessions were developed in direct response to feedback last year requesting more video and live session time in future CLIR virtual events. BOAF sessions are 25-minute live video discussions where folks canRead More »Session Highlight: Birds of a Feather Sessions at the DLF Forum

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Team DLF is excited to bring a new session format to our virtual 2021 Forum: Birds of a Feather, or BOAF, sessions. These sessions were developed in direct response to feedback last year requesting more video and live session time in future CLIR virtual events. BOAF sessions are 25-minute live video discussions where folks can discuss a topic of the presenter’s choice. These roundtables are opportunities for ideas to be shared and questions to be asked in the spirit of shared knowledge. In our Call for Proposals, we suggested BOAF sessions as a great place to ask for feedback on projects folks are currently working on or framing the discussion around a focused question. Considering the majority of our programming is pre-recorded (some with option of live question and answer period), we’re happy to be able to offer live sessions like BOAF. 

Join a BOAF at the Forum and be in conversation with colleagues around specific topics. Each session is designed to run for 25-minutes (with exception of the Immersive Pedagogy session, see more below), but if the conversation is too good to stop, there is space to take it to a spillover room, which session presenters and moderators will set up and help you find. 

BOAF Session A

November 1, 1:00pm ET

Weaving Knowledge Networks: What are your library inreach strategies? 
Presented by Krystal Boehlert, Sandy Enriquez, Rachel Starry

This BOAF conversation invites participants to share their ideas, practices, and strategies for weaving together disparate organizational threads into active collaboration networks. Developing new library services, designing new programming, creating new infrastructure all require flexible relationships and cross-unit cooperation. Does it help to reframe concrete “silos” as permeable networks?

Failure is an Option: Creative, inclusive, and accessible data workshops
Presented by Halle Burns, Christina Miskey, Rebecca Orozco

Many people new to data work can feel overwhelmed. However, librarians can empower new learners to utilize unfamiliar methods and software. This session will engage attendees in brainstorming and reflecting on more approachable and effective ways to teach data literacies and forward inclusive data communities.

Not Doing More with Less: Advocating for Sustainable Digital Projects
Presented by Julia Corrin, Erin White

Mass digitization projects reached their zenith in the early aughts. Years later, our institutions are feeling the strain. What does it look like to sustain legacy digitization projects in light of increasingly austere research library budgets and the ongoing imperative to launch new projects? Join us for a birds of a feather session to talk about sustainably resourcing work in digital collections.

BOAF Session B

November 1, 1:30pm ET

Community-Built Accessibility: Resources, Policy, and Testing
Presented by Gabriel Galson, Debbie Krahmer, Lydia Tang

Digital accessibility is an essential component for equity and inclusion. Representatives from the DLF Digital Access Working Group (DAWG) and Born Digital Access Working Group (BDAWG) will discuss collaborative initiatives towards building resources, policies, and testing workflows for accessibility in GLAM repositories. Learn about these ongoing initiatives and join us!

Building for Tomorrow: recommendations for feedback
Presented by Stephen Abrams, Sara Rogers, Ann Whiteside

The Building for Tomorrow project has developed recommendations for designers, architectural archivists, digital preservationists, and software vendors for effective long-term preservation of digital design files and the ability to experience them appropriately future, all responding to intellectual property issues in collecting and archiving design records.

Teach Me about the Anthropocene: a Birds of a Feather Teaching with Archives Workshop
Presented by Itza Carbajal, Sam Meier, Claire Williams

Environmental records exist in many archival collections, from fossil fuel environmental reports to photographs of changing natural and societal landscapes. As interest or curiosity increases on issues of environmental change, given ongoing dialogue and developing local, national, and global policies, archivists and archival collections find themselves at a critical point of intervention.

BOAF Session C

November 2, 1:00 pm ET

Create, Develop, Sustain: A Discussion of “Tiers” of Digital Preservation for Library-supported Projects
Presented by Rachel Appel, Jennifer Garçon, John Pollack, Sam Sfirri

Penn Libraries has developed a set of “tiers of digital preservation” for digital scholarship projects. Our goal is to factor in long-term planning for all projects created with library support. This BOAF session will present the challenges of appraising digital scholarship projects and matching them with digital preservation services.

Immersive Pedagogy: Distant Learning in Virtual Reality with Mozilla Hubs 
Presented by Jessica Linker, Henry A. Wermer-Colan, Heidi Winkler

The #DLFteach Working Group will host a virtual event in Mozilla Hubs to enable forum attendees to interact with one another in an immersive 3D space. Conference attendees, and contributors to the #DLFteach Toolkit Volume 2 on Immersive Pedagogy (2021), will be invited to present their work and 3D assets.

Note: This session will take place for the full hour, from 1:00pm to 2:00pm ET. Folks are welcome to participate during that entire time.

Towards a Structural Approach: How Do We Address the Root Causes of Bias and Inequality in Digital Environments?
Presented by Audrey Altman, Natalie Fulkerson, Jackson Huang

Identifying and addressing biases in our technologies often happens on a case-by-case basis. However, because our institutions and platforms exist in broader political contexts, sustainably addressing these inequalities requires an understanding of the structural nature of the problem. This discussion links the technical and political in digital library decision-making.

BOAF Session D

November 2, 1:30pm ET

Continuation of Immersive Pedagogy: Distant Learning in Virtual Reality with Mozilla Hubs 

Developing a Metadata Interview
Presented by Hannah Calkins, Kara Long

This is a guided discussion of interview techniques in metadata work. We’ll discuss documentation used in our work to guide interview questions and quickly develop an understanding of incoming projects. We also seek feedback on developing Metadata Interview Guidelines or shared documentation to benefit the wider community of metadata professionals.

Exploring How the Digital Library Community Can Promote Climate Justice
Presented by Shannon Kipphut-Smith, Julia Kress, Lisa Spiro

Join with DLF colleagues to discuss how we might join together to promote climate justice.

Web Archiving: collecting and preserving websites created by the Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas, UNAM
Presented by Jo Ana Morfin, Carolina Silva

This proposal describes the project led by the scholar Carolina Silva. It aims at researching strategies for preserving ten websites created by the Instituto de Investigaciones Bibliográficas, UNAM. It explores the challenges of web archiving online contents that were created using different programming languages and platforms

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Session Highlight: CLIR/HBCU Library Alliance Partner Sessions Return to the DLF Forum https://forum2021.diglib.org/2021/10/08/hbcu-library-alliance-at-forum/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hbcu-library-alliance-at-forum Fri, 08 Oct 2021 16:38:05 +0000 https://forum2021.diglib.org/?p=1405 As we mentioned in our What We’ve Learned post, we’re excited to welcome back the CLIR/HBCU Library Alliance partner sessions to the DLF Forum this year. These sessions are part of the CLIR and HBCU Library Alliance long-term partnership that aims to position historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as centers of scholarly distinction withRead More »Session Highlight: CLIR/HBCU Library Alliance Partner Sessions Return to the DLF Forum

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As we mentioned in our What We’ve Learned post, we’re excited to welcome back the CLIR/HBCU Library Alliance partner sessions to the DLF Forum this year. These sessions are part of the CLIR and HBCU Library Alliance long-term partnership that aims to position historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) as centers of scholarly distinction with unparalleled special collections that illuminate clearly the value, significance, and contributions of HBCUs. 

Selected by the HBCU Library Alliance, these combo sessions provide a chance for staff who work in and with HBCUs to share news about ongoing digital library and archives work, initiatives, and programs. The two sessions are grouped by theme: Urban Renewal and Digital Partnerships: Advancing Community Connections and Engagement for Achievement: Digitization, Library Operations, and Student Success. Each session will feature three presentations. 

Take a look at the session abstracts, and don’t forget to register for the DLF Forum! Seats are limited for this pay-what-you-can virtual event; registration is open through October 25 or until we sell out. 

November 1, 2:30pm ET

Urban Renewal and Digital Partnerships: Advancing Community Connections

Speak To Me: Reclamation of Black Communities
Monika Rhue, Johnson C. Smith University

The presentation will share how Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU) creates a learning experience using art, sound, and visual to share the history of Charlotte, NC’s only surviving post-bellum, streetcar black community, Biddleville. Biddleville is just minutes from uptown Charlotte, NC, which is one of the fastest growing cities across the nation. Although Biddleville was not totally destroyed by urban renewal during the 1960’s and 1970’s, the longtime residents in this community are witnessing gentrification while more and more first-hand white and wealthier residents relocated to this community in recent years. The negative stigma of gentrification is still a part of the memories of many black Charlotteans whose families were displaced when Brooklyn was destroyed. JCSU has taken an active role in preserving and sharing the legacy of Biddleville, giving voices to longtime residents and providing a historical perspective to new and incoming residents. The presentation will share how JCSU engaged the community in collecting oral histories, artifacts and creating the RCLM37 exhibit. Using the lens of Afrofuturism, the RCLM37 exhibit takes the concept of the everyday Biddleville experiences and recreates them to provide tangible access to this community’s history through reshaping the lens of today and projecting a strong future. Tips will be shared on how this project became a springboard for conversations about urban renewal and the cultural heritage and legacy of Charlotte’s black communities.

Sustaining the HBCU Library Alliance Digital Collections through Distributed Digitization and Preservation
Cliff Landis, Atlanta University Center Robert W. Woodruff Library and Nina Ishokir, Clinton College

The HBCU Library Alliance has been actively engaged in providing online access and digital preservation for significant historical content from its member institutions since the mid 2000’s. Highlighting the unique history of these institutions worldwide is important to scholarship and provides an authentic view of the role of the HBCU in African Americans higher education. The Digital Collection Celebrating the Founding of the Historically Black College and University was launched in the mid-2000s in partnership with Cornell University and LYRASIS and features documents, publications and photographs from 23 institutions. To address the long term preservation needs of the digital collection, the HBCU LA joined the MetaArchive Cooperative as a collaborative member in 2010. In 2021, a new partnership was formed between HBCU Library Alliance member institutions Clinton College and the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library to create a distributed digitization workflow to expand the digital collections and provide digital preservation through the MetaArchive Cooperative. This presentation will provide an overview and update on digital initiatives undertaken by the HBCU Library Alliance. Participants will learn how the HBCU Library Alliance member institutions are partnering to create distributed digitization workflows. In addition, participants will learn about the MetaArchive Cooperative’s ingest process, the technical infrastructure and recent changes to membership categories.

Digital Humanities for Small Audiences: Designing digital humanities projects with and for communities
Ashley Champagne, Brown University

Community partnerships drive many of the digital humanities projects at the Center for Digital Scholarship at the Brown University Library. This talk will highlight one such project, Stolen Relations: Recovering Stories of Indigenous Enslavement in the Americas, a community-centered database project led by Professor Linford Fisher that seeks to illuminate and understand the role the enslavement of Indigenous peoples played in settler colonialism over time. The Brown University Library team lead the technical aspects of the project, which include creating the database that holds the archival documents that list instances of enslaved indigenous people. Our team has worked to regularly make technical decisions with input from our Native partners. This work has required us to think through the following questions: 1) Because much of the work we do is technical, how can we make sure to present this technical work and the questions that it raises in a welcoming way that encourages dialogue? 2) How do we both listen to our partners, and take action on their advice, while also making sure the project scope does not stretch to the point that we cannot deliver on what we have promised? This talk will invite discussion and offer recommendations on how to incorporate community outreach and engagement in digital humanities work particularly when much of the work is technical.

Tuesday, November 2, 11am ET

Engagement for Achievement: Digitization, Library Operations, and Student Success

Building a Sustainable Digital Portal to Rosenwald: Lessons and takeaways from one year of planning
DeLisa Minor Harris and Danni Wynans, Fisk University

Since our presentation at the DLF Forum in November 2020, the Mellon-Rosenwald staff at Fisk University’s Franklin Library have digitized almost 15,000 images, collected metadata for the digitized material, and investigated how to develop a sustainable and accessible new database for the Rosenwald Fund material. As our planning grant comes to an end, we reflect on what we’ve accomplished and what we still need to achieve as we move into an implementation phase. Our presentation will include a frank discussion of the lessons we learned through this process, emphasizing how we intend to implement what we’ve learned regarding long-term sustainability and technical infrastructure planning as we build the new database in the next phase of our project. Additionally, we will discuss some of the Content Management and Digital Asset Management systems included in our investigation and what we have determined as the best options for projects without guaranteed long-term funding. Finally, we will look forward and discuss what comes next for the Franklin Library’s Center for Digitization.

The Textbook Transformation Grants Sub-Awards: Textbook Savings for Students at HBCUs
Ruth A. Hodges, South Carolina State University

Empirical evidence demonstrates that Open Educational Resources (OER) address affordability and attainment gaps by improving student outcomes, particularly among Pell Grant recipients and populations historically underserved in higher education. Such populations will benefit from the use of OER to lower their cost of attendance. In the U.S. academic libraries have been at the forefront of the affordable textbook movement. This movement has been advanced in librarianship through professional development opportunities. However, HBCU librarians have had limited resources to support their professional development. This presentation provides results from a two-year funded project on OER involving librarians and faculty cohorts at HBCUs participating in the Textbook Transformation Grant (TBTG) component of this professional development related project. During the TBTG, academic librarian and faculty teams collaborated to redesign a course to replace a commercial textbook with no-cost or low-cost materials. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to assess project activities. The audience will be introduced to:

  • the benefits and barriers to the utilization of no-cost or low-cost course materials at the participating HBCUs.
  • the best practices to become advocates of OER on respective campuses.
  • lessons learned related to this OER project.

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Meet the Keynote Speakers https://forum2021.diglib.org/2021/09/30/meet-the-keynote-speakers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=meet-the-keynote-speakers Thu, 30 Sep 2021 16:57:15 +0000 https://forum2021.diglib.org/?p=1380 What we’re looking forward to from Dr. Nikole-Hannah Jones, Dr. Stacey Patton, Nisha Mody, and Dr. Tonia Sutherland, DLF Forum and NDSA’s Digital Preservation Keynote Speakers Respectively Team DLF is thrilled about this year’s line up of keynote speakers at DLF Forum and NDSA’s Digital Preservation. We’re excited to hear about the ongoing digital transformationsRead More »Meet the Keynote Speakers

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What we're looking forward to from Dr. Nikole-Hannah Jones, Dr. Stacey Patton, Nisha Mody, and Dr. Tonia Sutherland, DLF Forum and NDSA's Digital Preservation Keynote Speakers Respectively

Team DLF is thrilled about this year’s line up of keynote speakers at DLF Forum and NDSA’s Digital Preservation. We’re excited to hear about the ongoing digital transformations in their work, organizations, and fields. 

For the 2020 Virtual Forum, award-winning journalist Dr. Stacey Patton presented an unforgettable keynote talk titled, “Do Black Lives Matter in Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums?” This year we’re excited to welcome Dr. Patton back to be in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist and MacArthur Genius Fellow Dr. Nikole Hannah-Jones. We’re so honored they will be presenting a keynote conversation entitled, “1619-2021: A Black Journalist Turns the Light of Truth on the History of American Race.” As they’ve written in their abstract, they will expand the conversation on inclusivity by exploring what it means to be Black women journalists doing the archival work of reclaiming artifacts and stories on American race relations. Following our guiding principle of the 2021 CLIR events, sustaining the community, they will also center the importance of self-care and sustaining community amid controversy and crisis. 

Dr. Stacey Patton
Dr. Stacey Patton

Dr. Nikole Hannah-Jones is the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of The New York Times‘s 1619 Project and made international news when she was denied tenure at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Reportedly, board members took issue with her involvement with the 1619 Project but later voted to reverse their earlier decision and grant her tenure. Less than a week later, Dr. Hannah-Jones announced she would join the faculty of Howard University, where she is the Knight Chair in Race and Journalism and founded the Center for Journalism & Democracy.  At CLIR, we work diligently to amplify unheard voices through DLF, Recordings at RiskDigitizing Hidden Collections and other projects, so we are so honored that Dr. Hannah-Jones is willing to share her perspective and experiences on this theme. Our hope is that the conversation between her and Dr. Patton could launch a get-stuff-done conversation that would ultimately benefit many people. 

10/10/17/NYC,, NY/ 
Nicole Hannah-Jones  portrait  after winning MacArthur grant(Credit: James Estrin/ The New York Times)30212179A
Dr. Nikole Hannah-Jones

Nisha Mody (MLIS, MA CCC-SLP) will be closing the DLF Forum with her talk “Showing Up: Caring for Each Other During Messy Times.” As someone who has a trauma-informed practice and is experienced in helping and teaching others about healing, we’re very much looking forward to hearing Ms. Mody’s perspective on how we can build and sustain community in our work. Considering meetups, gatherings, and conferences like the upcoming CLIR events are meeting online more than in person, what does it mean to utilize these technologies and how does it impact the way we gather? 

Nisha Mody
Ms. Nisha Mody

Dr. Tonia Sutherland, keynote for NDSA’s Digital Preservation 2021: Embracing Digitality, is Assistant Professor in the Library and Information Sciences Program at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa where she focuses on memory, community, and technology. Dr. Sutherland will be presenting, “After the Archives: On Living and Dying in Digital Culture.” We’re looking forward to hearing Dr. Sutherland’s talk as her work “critically examines the analog histories of modern information and communication technologies; addresses trends of racialized violence in 21st century digital cultures; and interrogates issues of race, ritual, and embodiment in archival and digital spaces.” 

T-BW
Dr. Tonia Sutherland

We're incredibly honored and excited to hear from all of the keynote speakers in November.

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Registration and Programs for 2021 CLIR Events are NOW LIVE, Keynotes Announced, and more https://forum2021.diglib.org/2021/09/01/registration-and-programs-for-2021-clir-events-are-now-live-keynotes-announced-and-more/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=registration-and-programs-for-2021-clir-events-are-now-live-keynotes-announced-and-more Wed, 01 Sep 2021 14:19:29 +0000 https://forum2021.diglib.org/?p=1204 Featuring sixteen sessions; DLF Forum Keynote speakers Dr. Nikole Hannah-Jones in conversation with Dr. Stacey Patton and Nisha Mody CLIR/DLF is delighted to share many exciting updates and announcements pertaining to our events taking place in November. Registration closes October 25th or when the events sell out. Read on and act fast!  Programs for ALLRead More »Registration and Programs for 2021 CLIR Events are NOW LIVE, Keynotes Announced, and more

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Featuring sixteen sessions; DLF Forum Keynote speakers Dr. Nikole Hannah-Jones in conversation with Dr. Stacey Patton and Nisha Mody

CLIR/DLF is delighted to share many exciting updates and announcements pertaining to our events taking place in November. Registration closes October 25th or when the events sell out. Read on and act fast! 

  • Programs for ALL events (the DLF Forum; NDSA’s Digital Preservation 2021: Embracing Digitality; and Learn@DLF) are now available here. Some details are still being determined, but we think you’ll like what you’ll see in this year’s new conference platform, Midspace (formerly Clowdr).
  • As part of our program, we’re delighted to announce our amazing 2021 keynote speakers for the DLF Forum. Dr. Nikole Hannah-Jones will be interviewed by Dr. Stacey Patton to kick off the DLF Forum and Nisha Mody will deliver the Forum’s closing plenary keynote. The keynote speaker for DigiPres will be announced soon. 
  • Now that you’ve checked out the great content we’re offering in November, it’s time to register. The DLF Forum and NDSA’s Digital Preservation are free with the option to donate; Learn@DLF is $35 per workshop. Registration for ALL events is open (but limited) through October 25 or until the event sells out. 
  • None of this would be possible without our sponsors. As a DLF Forum and DigiPres sponsor you will be part of the premier digital library conference that fosters leadership, strengthens relationships, engages in difficult conversations, sets grassroots agendas, and organizes for action. Sponsorship opportunities are limited and will go quickly. Check out our 2021 sponsorship opportunities and reserve your preferred sponsor level today.
  • Want to show your 2021 DLF Forum spirit? Then head on over to our t-shirt fundraiser to nab your 2021 DLF Forum t-shirt, only available through October 1, benefiting our Child Care Fund as always.
  • Apply to Be a Community Journalist: This year, we will be providing $250 stipends to a cohort of 10 DLF Forum attendees from a variety of backgrounds. We will feature the voices and experiences of our 2021 Community Journalists on the DLF blog after our events this fall. Apply by September 20.

We're excited to see everyone in November! Remember, registration closes October 25th or when the events sell out.

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What We’ve Learned: Major Takeaways from 2020 Virtual Forum and Affiliated Events Feedback https://forum2021.diglib.org/2021/08/04/what-weve-learned-major-takeaways-from-2020-virtual-forum-and-affiliated-events-feedback/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=what-weve-learned-major-takeaways-from-2020-virtual-forum-and-affiliated-events-feedback Wed, 04 Aug 2021 13:07:29 +0000 https://forum2021.diglib.org/?p=936 As Team DLF works with Planning Committee members to help plan 2021 events, feedback from 2020 events is part of this process. Thank you to everyone who participated in events and offered comments. We’re excited to share some of the major takeaways from the surveys that are informing the decisions and plans we’re making forRead More »What We’ve Learned: Major Takeaways from 2020 Virtual Forum and Affiliated Events Feedback

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As Team DLF works with Planning Committee members to help plan 2021 events, feedback from 2020 events is part of this process. Thank you to everyone who participated in events and offered comments. We’re excited to share some of the major takeaways from the surveys that are informing the decisions and plans we’re making for this year.

When we opened the calls for proposals for our 2020 events, we did so assuming we would convene in person as we have for the past 21 years. Once we realized the global pandemic would prevent an in-person gathering, we were faced with new challenges that revolved around the question of how to bring CLIR’s Digital Library Federation (DLF) Forum, NDSA’s Digital Preservation conference, and Learn@DLF into the virtual environment in a way that centers the community. And what would that look like in the throes of multiple pandemics that disproportionately impact Black and Indigenous folks, and communities of color?

Our guiding focus was “building community while apart,” a priority that came directly out of responses from a DLF community survey. As a step in this direction, all of our 2020 events were free of charge and event resources were made widely available after the events. Additionally, the planning committee prioritized submissions from folks who identify as Black, Indigenous, or People of Color working at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other institutions that work to center historically excluded communities. 

We welcomed over 2,000 individuals from all 50 states, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, and from more than 30 countries, with nearly 1,200 people viewing the Forum’s opening plenary. We received 136 responses from our general attendee survey and 15 responses from our survey for Program Committee members. Feedback also came from CLIR staff.

Major Takeaways

The virtual format allowed for even more attendees and a variety of options for interaction.

I absolutely loved the synchronous/asynchronous balance of this conference. The "sessions" (and conversations on the associated Slack channel) would occur at the same time for everyone, but . . . I also had the option of pausing, accessing slide decks, rewinding, looking something up on the internet, and resuming the videos... I was more than 100% happy with the experience. I feel like I was able to take in a lot more information at more [of] my pace.

Survey Respondent

Although a virtual format was not as ideal as in-person for community building, having an interactive option such as Slack for attendees, coupled with a free event, went a long way in terms of bringing more people into the community and introducing them to the work of CLIR and DLF. 

We’ve personally experienced a wide variety of conference platforms as attendees, so we know how disorienting it can be to jump on yet another platform. This is why we plan on sharing information about the platform we’ve chosen for 2021 and (we hope!) providing opportunities for orientation ahead of DLF Forum. 

We also heard you when you said it was confusing to follow the conversation across multiple platforms (e.g., Aviary, Slack, Twitter, shared notes). For this reason, for 2021 we decided to go with a comprehensive platform that allows for streaming, live chat, and spontaneous conversation such as video meetups, all in one spot. 

The virtual event environment brought engagement challenges and accessibility responsibilities to the forefront. The lessons learned will benefit future online and in-person events.

My only note would be though some people were very engaged in discussions through online platforms, there were definitely some who were not that I heard from later on. I don't know if the technology was a barrier but if there could be several different ways to engage people in conversation, that could be helpful.

Survey Respondent

Making content accessible is of the utmost importance to us. DLF was among the first library tech-related conferences to present a Code of Conduct; we were also among the first to offer childcare. Now we have the opportunity to lead on accessibility, and we must do so at future DLF Forums and other CLIR events. 

The 2020 Forum re-emphasized the importance of captioning, which has prompted us to look at ways to make this feature available for all group meetings, not just to those who request it in advance. Additionally, requiring presenters to pre-record sessions and submit their recordings along with edited captions helps not only to reduce technical issues that arise with multiple streams of live content but also to ensure that all sessions are captioned.

The programming schedule must be community-centered and include intentional partnerships.

What I loved most about DLF Forum was its criticality, the high-level of competency in presentations and presenters, the care and empathy with which sessions were led, the practical strategies that I can bring back to my institution, and the general feeling of "we got this". I have been to so many COVID-era conferences, in a way more than I would have had access to previously due to cost and travel, and this conference reminded me why I love what I do, left me empowered, with more tools in my toolkit, and with new friends and connections -- and somehow you all accomplished this VIRTUALLY. I could not be more impressed, and excited to be more involved in DLF in the coming years.

Survey Respondent

The differences between attending conferences online versus in-person go well beyond physical differences. This year we’ve built in more explicit, substantial breaks to make sure folks have a chance to take a meal or walk away from a screen. We’ve had to make some hard decisions when it comes to accepted proposals, but we hope this might jump start more conversation, collaboration, and sharing elsewhere, such as in shorter web events. 

We heard our community when you said we need to up our game when it comes to a guide for folks who are new to our events. Such a guide is essential, regardless of future event formats, as is an updated Code of Conduct that lists specific expectations and reporting options for virtual events, including Working Group meetings. 

We’re also happy to announce that, like last year, the 2021 DLF Forum will feature two sessions co-hosted with the HBCU Library Alliance, an intentional partnership bringing new projects and people to the event. 

The meta experience of attending a virtual conference that actually worked and felt like a community was probably the biggest thing. I feel more optimistic about the possibilities for virtual and hybrid events in my own work.

Survey Respondent

More about 2021 Virtual Forum, NDSA's Digital Preservation, and Learn@DLF coming soon

We look forward to sharing more about 2021 DLF Forum, NDSA’s Digital Preservation, and Learn@DLF in the coming weeks including sharing our social-first platform and the addition of a couple live sessions. At Forum we’ll be hosting live Birds of a Feather sessions where presenters will share works-in-progress so they can receive feedback from the community, and by feedback request, we’ve added live workshops to our Learn@DLF program. 

Want to be the first to know when registration opens? Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest news. 

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