Report Available for the 2014 DPOE Training Needs Assessment Survey

Report Available for the 2014 DPOE Training Needs Assessment Survey. Barrie Howard, Susan Manus. The Signal. Library of Congress. January 6, 2015.
An executive summary (PDF) and full report (PDF) of the survey results are now available. The survey was an effort to get a sense of the state of digital preservation practice and understand more about what capacity exists for organizations and professionals to effectively preserve digital content.
The most significant takeaways are:

1. an overwhelming expression of concern that respondents ensure their digital content is accessible for 10 or more years (84%), 
2. evidence of a strong commitment to support employee training opportunities (83%). 
3. a substantial increase across all organizations in paid full-time or part-time professional staff with practitioner experience (13%)
4. an increased number of staffing for digital preservation (46% FTE, 51% various staff)
5. increase in organizations providing financial support for training (82%)

The type of digital content held by each institution:

1. reformatted material digitized from collections already held (83%), 
2. born-digital content created by and for your organization trails close behind (76.4%). 
3. deposited digital materials managed for other individuals or institutions (45%). 

Training:

1. online delivery is trending upward across many sectors to meet the constraints of reduced travel and professional development budgets.
2. The survey shows that small, in-person workshops is the most preferred training option, followed by webinars, and self-paced, online courses as the next two choices.
3. Respondents identified a clear need for technical training to assist staff in understanding and applying specific digital preservation techniques in their daily work followed by training focused on strategic planning, management and administration, project management, and fundamentals.

Digital Preservation Matters.