World Digital Preservation Day 2025 – TDL Peer Audit and Assessment

On World Digital Preservation Day last year, TDL blogged about our digital preservation efforts, including launching a pilot Peer Audit and Assessment in January 2025. This year, Texas Woman’s University’s (TWU) Kristin Clark led TDL member peers from the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) and Sam Houston State University (SHSU) through several months of shared assessment tasks culminating in clear objectives for their digital preservation programs.

From top left to bottom right: Rebecca Richie, Kristin Clark, Daniella Flores, Michelle McCrary, Graeme Martin, Vic Rocha

The goal of the pilot was to support two TDL members as they assessed their digital program in a particular collection, unit, or other definable area of work. Our pilot Peer Guide, Kristin Clark, led the Pilot Partners through the NEDCC Peer Assessment materials to help them develop longer-term program goals as well as more immediate strategic objectives with timelines, stakeholders, risks and resource allocations. 

We started by introducing the project and sharing an outline of the assessment work. The Peer Guide supported the Partners while they defined the area/scope of work and helped to set up a framework to manage peer interviews for each part of the assessment. After establishing a methodology, the pilot team worked from January until September 2025. The Partners supported each other as they interrogated digital preservation elements of their organization, staff and resources, policy infrastructure, processes, workflows, and technological resources. The whole team met to discuss the results from each section, and ultimately supported documenting goals resulting from the discussions in final reports. 

The Peer Guide, Kristin Clark, brought her wisdom and guidance based on going through the assessment process with the POWRR team. The following are Kristin’s comments on the pilot.

I adapted the Digital POWRR Peer Assessment program’s structure for our needs, simplifying it to focus solely on the NEDCC Peer Assessment. The original POWRR program included three assessments–NDSA Levels of Preservation, DPC RAM, and the NEDCC Peer Assessment. The NEDCC assessment is the longest of the three, and we chose it as the single focus for the TDL program. The aim was to give our participants more time to work through the assessment thoroughly. We allocated six months for completion, with participants meeting regularly together to discuss each section and gathering as a full group every two months to share highlights and insights. This meeting structure was similar to the POWRR program phase one, but with an extended timeline.

Initially, we planned a true “peer” assessment model where each institution would interview the other and write the final report for one another. However, the program naturally evolved into a “co-assessment” approach, with UTSA and SHSU ultimately completing their own assessments.  In discussions with other POWRR program members, I learned that many of the peer groups took this approach as well.

This shift makes sense, particularly for institutions new to digital preservation program assessment or still building their programs. When you’re figuring things out yourself, assessing another institution and making recommendations can be challenging. A self-assessment approach offers valuable benefits: it helps you become familiar with your own collections while learning the complexities of digital preservation work—organizational structures, funding models, processes, and staff support, while also getting comfortable with the assessment process. The process itself becomes a form of institutional discovery, as much of the work involves identifying the right people to answer specific questions. This creates natural opportunities for collaboration and relationship building within your organization.

UTSA and SHSU, despite their differing program sizes and approaches to digital preservation, were able to offer each other support and insight throughout the process. Below, pilot partners from both UTSA and SHSU share their perspectives.

UTSA 

From the digital collections functional unit at UTSA, Daniella Flores, Digital Archivist, Graeme Martin, AV Archivist, and Vic Rocha, Digital Collections Specialist, all participated in the Peer Assessment. The following are their comments on the collaboration.

When we first volunteered for this assessment in 2024, we hoped that it would give us some guidance on future projects. The Peer Assessment experience allowed us to explore our workflows, standards, and digital collections in a way we had not been able to do as a team before. Working through a new set of questions each month, the three of us were able to collaborate and discuss the strengths and needed improvement of our workflows. We incorporated our own library-wide goals into how we thought about the success of our current and future work. Meeting with the team at Sam Houston State University was extremely enlightening. While we had many similarities, we also found a variety of differences that highlighted why our approaches to digitization and digital preservation varied.  

This was a fantastic experience overall. We were able to create a long, achievable list of action items to help guide our goals for the next couple of years. And while we have plenty of support for our initiatives at a higher level, being able to create an evaluation report serves as a great backbone for advocacy for digital collections if needed in the future.  

We believe that the best part of this experience was being able to work at an in-depth level with another institution. Michelle and Rebecca were fantastic partners and always came to our meetings with questions that challenged us to think about our approaches to digital collections.  

Creating stronger relationships with another institution, while not the focus of the Peer Assessment, is an understated benefit to this program. Moving forward, we have action items, goals, and achievable tasks that we made as a team to improve our digital archive. Along with this, we also now have great colleagues at SHSU that help hold us accountable to the goals we set.   

SHSU 

From Sam Houston State University, Michelle McCrary, Head of Digital Initiatives, and Rebecca Richie, Digital Projects Specialist, participated in the Peer Assessment pilot program. The following are their thoughts about the pilot.

When I first signed up for the assessment, I was excited but also a little intimidated by the process. Both Rebecca and I were new to our positions at SHSU, so we knew we’d benefit from stepping back to take a big picture look at our institution’s collections and practices. What we didn’t anticipate was just how beneficial and energizing it would be to talk through those details with another institution.

Collaborating with UTSA was one of the most valuable parts of the experience. Although our organizations are structured differently, hearing how their team approaches digital preservation helped us see our own processes in a new light. Those conversations sparked thoughtful discussions about each institution’s strengths and challenges and inspired us to think more creatively about our own practices and goals.

The peer assessment process itself gave us both structure and momentum. Each session offered time to reflect on our collections, policies, and goals, and helped us see our program from a fresh perspective. Breaking our goals into three-, six-, and twelve-month milestones makes it feel achievable, and provides a clear path forward to refine our policies, streamline workflows, and improve communication across units.

Overall, the peer assessment was a positive and collaborative experience that deepened our understanding of both our own digital collections and the broader practice of digital preservation. It also highlighted the importance of community in this work. Working closely with Kristin, Daniella, Vic, and Graeme helped us build confidence, share knowledge, and form lasting professional connections. We’re excited to continue working with UTSA in the next phase of the Peer Assessment program, checking in on our goals, learning together, and supporting other institutions that join this growing community.

—-

TDL is grateful for the labor of the pilot participants and eager to start a new cohort for this program. Based on the feedback from the pilot partners, we’ve renamed the effort “Peer-Assisted Audit and Assessment”. Additionally, we have added another guiding document recently published by the Digital POWRR team: Navigating Uncertainty: A Human-Centered Assessment Compass for Digital Preservation Practitioners. We have also updated the wiki page for the upcoming cohort. TDL’s Liaison, Courtney Mumma,  will work with the new Peer Guides, Daniella Flores and Michelle McCrary, and Partners beginning in early 2026. If you are interested in being a Partner, please respond to the call by reaching out to info@tdl.org. 

To learn about other POWRR assessment experiences, please review their recent white paper Beyond the Checklist: Healing, Connection, and Capacity-Building Through Digital Preservation Peer Assessment