You’ve made it through the hard part: researching options, weighing costs, and selecting a digital preservation system. But as implementation begins, new questions often appear:

• Who’s responsible for what once the system is live?
• How do policies and workflows adapt to this new environment?
• Are metadata and storage practices consistent enough to support long-term access?

Many organizations discover these challenges after a system has been chosen, when project momentum is high but readiness gaps start to slow things down.

To help bridge that gap, APTrust has developed the Digital Preservation Readiness Guide.

This guide is meant for anyone building or strengthening a digital preservation program. It guides you through key areas that are often overlooked, including governance, staffing, metadata, policy development, and workflow design. It helps you identify what’s already in place and where additional preparation is needed.

The goal isn’t to prescribe a single path. It’s to help you see the full landscape of digital preservation work before committing resources, so your system launch (and long-term stewardship) can proceed more smoothly.

The Readiness Guide is a first step in a larger series of APTrust resources to support digital preservation readiness and program development. We know every organization’s context is different, and we’re continuing to build tools that meet those varied needs.

Start your journey with the Digital Preservation Readiness Guide and set your program up for success!

Guidance