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Ada Alster is the archivist at the Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC), where she works to preserve and provide access to the Centre’s collections. She sleeps a little more soundly knowing that the VHEC’s audiovisual testimonies are being carefully preserved, monitored and protected through ongoing digital preservation work.

What does it take to ensure that Holocaust testimony remains accessible decades from now?

The VHEC holds more than 200 audiovisual testimonies, oral histories and interviews with BC Holocaust survivors and other eyewitnesses, including former “enemy aliens” internees, rescuers and liberators. We also hold recordings of events, including symposia and other educational programs. These recordings document personal experiences and historical perspectives and remain an important resource for education, research and remembrance.

The VHEC’s audiovisual testimony collection dates back to 1979, with recordings originally made primarily on U-Matic videocassettes. Over the years, copies were also made on other media, including audiocassettes, VHS, MiniDV, CDs and DVDs to support access and circulation.

For this year’s World Digital Preservation Day, with the theme of Save Our Stories (SOS): Our Digital Heritage in Danger, we’re sharing some of the work we’ve been doing to better preserve our collections for the future.

Why we needed to reassess

In 2015–2016, the VHEC undertook its first major audiovisual digitization and digital preservation project. Hundreds of analogue recordings were digitized, and the resulting digital files were transferred to Linear Tape-Open (LTO-7) magnetic tapes for long-term storage.

Hundreds of audiovisual carriers from the VHEC’s collection prepared for digitization during the 2015–2016 preservation project.

By 2023, it was time to reassess how we were preserving those files. As the VHEC’s archivist, I led a review of our digital preservation practices using the Digital Preservation Coalition’s Rapid Assessment Model (DPC RAM), alongside a broader assessment of our digital preservation policy, storage infrastructure and workflows.

We needed to address the risks associated with ageing LTO-7 hardware and software, as well as find a more practical way to monitor the integrity of our files. Checksums had been created during the 2015–2016 project, but a repeatable workflow for carrying out regular fixity checks had not been established. The software used for that project required files to be retrieved from tape to verify their integrity. Given the size of the audiovisual files, this would have required considerable time and substantial temporary storage space. Regular fixity checks had not been carried out in the years since.

The 2023 assessment helped us identify priorities, plan improvements to our storage infrastructure and preservation workflows, and secure funding for the equipment and staff time needed to carry out the migration.

More Than a Storage Upgrade

In support from Library and Archives Canada’s Documentary Heritage Communities Program (LAC-DHCP) and the Azrieli Foundation we undertook a project to migrate the collection from LTO-7 to LTO-10 tape storage. As part of the planning, we considered whether LTO was still the right solution for preserving the collection. We decided to continue using it because it remains a sustainable and cost-effective option for storing large audiovisual files, allowing us to manage and retrieve preservation copies in-house while keeping the data offline.

Because files had originally been transferred to tape in the order they were digitized, some recordings of a survivor or event were spread across multiple tapes. Some recordings multiple file versions, including versions with known quality issues, so we had to identify which files had passed quality control and exclude those with known issues from the new preservation packages. We also found recordings with mezzanine copies but no preservation copy, along with inconsistencies in file naming, metadata and documentation. In light of this, we saw the migration as an opportunity to improve how the collection was organized and documented. We decided to organize related recordings by interviewee or event. This required careful planning to retrieve and process related files from different LTO-7 tapes while working within our limited server space for staging files. We also gathered supporting materials, including transcripts, consent forms and time-coded summaries.

We incorporated preservation files from recordings created or digitized after the 2015–2016 project that had not been included on the original LTO-7 tapes. We also addressed gaps in the available preservation and mezzanine files and obtained others through our longstanding partnership with the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University, which held preservation copies of some VHEC testimonies.

When Backups Make a Difference

During the project, two files on separate primary on-site LTO-7 tapes could not be retrieved. The tape drive and software reported errors, but we could not determine the exact cause. Fortunately, we were able to recover both files from our off-site LTO-7 backups, with no data loss.

Without those backups, we could have permanently lost these irreplaceable files documenting Holocaust experiences.

Bringing the files together

With the necessary files gathered, recovered and organized, the next step was to create standardized Archival Information Packages (AIPs).

An example of the VHEC’s Archival Information Package (AIP) structure, bringing together audiovisual files, technical metadata, supporting documentation and fixity information.

Using BagIt, we developed a workflow to bring the audiovisual files, metadata and supporting documentation together into preservation packages. We also developed a script to automate parts of the process, including extracting technical metadata, creating packages and verifying their contents.

The aim was to create consistent, self-describing packages that would make it easier for future staff to find, understand and use the recordings and their associated materials.

Making preservation work routine

Another important outcome of the project was establishing a repeatable workflow for annual fixity checks. With the new preservation software, we have a more manageable way to carry out these checks and investigate potential integrity issues.

Fixity check results in Yoyotta supporting annual file integrity monitoring.

We also developed a digital preservation event registry in our collection management system, using the PREMIS preservation metadata standard as a guide. The registry allows us to document preservation events such as migrations, fixity checks, validation and file recovery, recording what happened, when and with what outcome. By linking these events to the relevant digital objects in our collection records, we can provide future staff with a clear preservation history.

The VHEC’s PREMIS-informed Digital Preservation Event Registry in CollectiveAccess.

With LTO-10’s increased capacity, we were able to consolidate the collection from 20 primary LTO-7 tapes to just two primary LTO-10 tapes, with s backup copies.

Rohini Singh, digital preservation assistant, and Ada Alster, archivist, with the LTO-7 and LTO-10 tapes following the project.

Looking Ahead

Our testimony collection has already moved through several generations of technology, from analogue recordings to digitization, LTO-7 and now LTO-10. There will inevitably be more changes ahead. For now, our focus is on regularly monitoring the files and maintaining backup copies in separate geographic locations.

One of our main takeaways from this project is that having preservation policies in place is only part of the work. We also need practical, repeatable workflows that allow us to put those policies into action.

As the number of living Holocaust survivors declines, and as Holocaust denial, distortion and antisemitism remain serious concerns, maintaining authentic eyewitness testimony and its historical context is especially important.

For us, saving these stories means continuing the preservation work needed to keep the testimonies and their context accessible and trustworthy for future generations. This project has been an important step in that work.

Explore More

• Vancouver Holocaust Education Centre (VHEC) – Learn more about the VHEC’s educational programs, exhibitions and resources.

• VHEC Collections Catalogue – Explore the VHEC’s archival collections.

• VHEC Holocaust Testimony Collection – Learn more about the Centre’s collection of audiovisual testimonies and oral histories.

Carol Kussmann is the Digital Preservation Analyst and Jenny McBurney is the Government Publications Librarian at University of Minnesota Libraries.

The Save Our Signs project has been helping to Save our Stories since July 2025. With educational signs and displays at U.S. National Parks, monuments, and historic sites at imminent risk of removal or censorship, the SOS team recruited the help of the public to collect photographs of as many signs as possible before the initial submission deadline of September 17, 2025.  The first iteration of the Save Our Signs Archive launched in October 2025 with over 10,000 photos of National Park Service Interpretive signs, submitted by people from all over the country.

Karen Hanson is the Lead Research Developer at Portico.

For World Digital Preservation Day and the Save Our Stories theme, it seemed apt to introduce our current pilot project to preserve digital news and a new Mellon-funded project with Portico’s long-time partner, NYU Libraries. 

For over a decade, members of the library, archives, and journalism communities in the US have raised concerns about whether digital news is being adequately preserved as the industry shifts from print to digital. As legacy newspapers move online, reduce or end print operations, and in some cases close altogether, new kinds of digital and hyperlocal outlets are emerging to fill the gaps, often experimenting with new funding models to survive. Preserving hyperlocal and community-focused reporting is essential to capturing an inclusive historical record, yet this volatile environment places this vital record at a high risk of permanent loss. 

This blog is co-authored by Amy Currie, Digital Preservation Specialist, and Dorothy Waugh, Head of Workforce Development, of the Digital Preservation Coalition.

As part of this year's World Digital Preservation Day, the DPC Workforce Development team is presenting at the virtual NDSA DigiPres 2026 conference. Our presentation is titled 'Making Digital Preservation Work Visible: Using Labour Market Evidence to Support Sustainable Workforce Development.' However, in a lot of ways, it could easily be retitled to something like 'Making Digital Preservation Work Visible: Exploring Digital Preservation Labour and Workforce Sustainability to Save Our Stories', because of the important connection between protecting digital content and supporting a sustainable and resilient digital preservation workforce.

Stephen Abrams, PhD is an independent scholar, and former Head of Digital Preservation, Harvard Library

Storytelling is essential and inherent to the human spirit and experience.  We tell each other stories to make sense of ourselves, the world around us, and our place in it.  Stories let us remember the past, navigate the present, and extrapolate the future, facilitating the transformation of factual data into evocative information, rich knowledge, and enduring wisdom. 

One of the earliest tangible examples of storytelling we know of is an Indonesian cave painting over 51,000 years old.

This blog is co-authored by Folasade Adepoju, Chief Librarian at the National Library of Nigeria, and Ima Oduok, Assistant Digital Preservation Analyst at the Rockefeller Archive Center.

Across our field, we are facing decreasing resources and increasing risk to our digital materials. It is important to remember how this danger to digital heritage can reinforce and broaden existing inequities. It is also important to highlight the information and cultural heritage professionals doing incredible work in their local communities, promoting preservation of indigenous knowledge and traditions. To this end, I want to share an interview with a friend, Folasade Adepoju, who is leading efforts in digital preservation and web archiving in Nigeria and collaborating across the African continent. 

Melissa Bailey is an independent recording artist, author and network engineer.

I looked back to see how far I had come, only to discover that some of my achievements were becoming harder to trace publicly. One example is the historical Billboard R&B Digital Song Sales entry connected to my single “Dancing in the Rain.” I have older evidence of that chart history, but the entry is no longer easy to locate through the current artist-profile experience. I have been in contact with Billboard about the missing information, and its team is investigating. I haven’t lost my music. What I risk losing is the ability to show someone else the evidence behind part of my story.

Gladys Kemboi is a doctoral student in Information Science at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. 

My name is Gladys Kemboi. I am a doctoral student in Information Science at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. My research and interests focus on knowledge management, digital preservation, decolonisation of knowledge, community archives and local and Indigenous knowledge in development. Over the past years I have been collaborating with leaders, partners and communities across the globe to digitize and preserve local and Indigenous knowledge in development. Through the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) support, I have made significant contributions and extended our digital preservation efforts to preserve local and  Indigenous knowledge in Africa.

The urgency to preserve Africa’s heritage emerged from my motivation and collaboration with Folasade Adepoju of National Library of Nigeria, and founder of Youth Initiative for Literacy and Cultural Orientation (YILCO). As we celebrate 2026 World Digital Preservation Day, we celebrate the impact and collaboration in (1) saving humanitarian archives and health knowledge in danger, (2) web archiving, and (3) catalysing African community archives for social good.

Justin Simpson is the Managing Director at Artefactual Systems.

Today the Digital Preservation Coalition publishes its snapshot of the Global Bit List of Endangered Digital Species,^[1] documenting what we stand to lose and what is putting it at risk. The List gives practitioners something to point at when they ask for time and money.

I see a pattern there. Content on commercial platforms, collections held in cloud services, records of organisations under political or financial threat, formats that can only be read by an abandoned tool. Many Bit List entries are not about bits decaying at all. They are about records that depend on another party, a supplier, a platform, a funder, a host institution, who may not be there, or may not be willing, when the records need to move to their next keeper.

So here is my entry, which will never appear on the list because it is not a thing. Our stories are not only in danger because files rot. They are in danger whenever the next keeper is blocked by something it has no power over, whether that is a decision by a supplier, a licence, a sanction, or a platform that has closed its doors.

Nance McGovern is Director for Digital Preservation Instruction and Practice at Global Archivist LLC.

Happy World Digital Preservation Day 2026! Celebrating a favorite day as a bright spot in an especially hard year.

What’s missing? What’s lost? What’s waning? What can we do about it? This is a SOS for digital content to the digital preservation community and beyond. Our digital collections are at risk and being lost in many apparent and some less obvious ways: