Frequently Asked Questions

Membership & Governance

Who is APTrust for? Who can be a member?

APTrust is designed for academic and research institutions, libraries, archives, and other organizations committed to digital preservation. It serves institutions that need a reliable, community-governed solution for storing, managing, and preserving digital content over the long term.

Membership is open to U.S.-based institutions that support the mission of digital preservation and are willing to participate in a collaborative preservation community. While APTrust primarily serves higher education institutions, other organizations—such as public libraries, archives, museums, and foundations—are encouraged to join.

Why Join?

✅ Secure, redundant storage for digital assets

✅ Community governance, ensuring member-driven decision-making

✅ Preservation-focused infrastructure, including automated fixity checks and PREMIS event tracking using international standards

✅ Collaboration & support from a network of digital preservation professionals

What are Associate Memberships, and how do they work?

Associate Memberships allow strategic partners in cultural heritage preservation to participate in APTrust under the sponsorship of a Sustaining Member. These partnerships extend the benefits of digital preservation beyond traditional APTrust membership and foster broader collaboration in safeguarding scholarly and cultural records.

Purpose of Associate Memberships

  • Expanding Access to Digital Preservation: Associate Members can utilize APTrust’s shared preservation repository without becoming Sustaining Members.
  • Strengthening Institutional Partnerships: Sustaining Members can extend APTrust’s preservation capabilities to affiliated institutions, museums, archives, community archives, or other cultural heritage organizations.
  • Furthering the Mission: Associate Members contribute to the broader mission of long-term scholarly preservation by leveraging APTrust’s infrastructure.

How It Works

  • Associate Members must be sponsored by a Sustaining Member, who takes responsibility for their participation.
  • Associate Members have their own credentials and institutions in Registry, separate from the Sustaining Member sponsor. The Sustaining Member will be invoiced for their Associate’s storage, and their storage report will show the breakdown.
  • It is up to the Sustaining Member and Associate to determine what, if any, fees they will be charged. APTrust does not bill Associate members.

Key Benefits

  • Enables non-member institutions to leverage APTrust’s preservation infrastructure.
  • Encourages collaborative digital preservation strategies across institutions.
  • Supports APTrust’s mission to preserve scholarly and cultural records beyond its core membership.

What is the APTrust Governing Board?

The APTrust Governing Board is the primary governing body of APTrust, with input from Sustaining Member representatives. It is responsible for strategic direction, sustainability planning, financial oversight, and leadership within the APTrust community. The Board also elects new members and communicates APTrust’s value to the broader academic community.

What is the APTrust Advisory Committee?

The APTrust Advisory Committee consists of two representatives from each Sustaining Member, appointed by their institution’s library dean or director. These representatives contribute expertise in digital preservation, policy, and APTrust’s strategic priorities. The committee is key in keeping the broader community informed about APTrust’s evolving infrastructure.

Advisory Committee members serve one-year terms with no term limits. The Governing Board appoints two Advisory Committee members as Board Liaisons. They are full Board members, with three-year terms, ensuring continuity. When an vacancy occurs, the Executive Director solitics interest from Advisory representatives and if necessary organizes a ballot, though confirmation is still needed form the Governing Board.

Key responsibilities include:

  • Advising the Governing Board and APTrust staff on strategic and operational matters.
  • Refining and implementing strategic directions in collaboration with stakeholders.
  • Establishing working groups with clear objectives and timelines to support APTrust initiatives.
  • Facilitating interest groups for focused discussions on emerging topics.
  • Acting as ambassadors to promote APTrust’s mission.

What are the Advisory Representatives’ responsibilities?

This role is essential to ensuring that APTrust remains a strong, collaborative, and forward-thinking community that advances the shared mission of digital preservation.

At Their Institution

  • Facilitate Communication: Serve as the primary liaison between APTrust and their institution, ensuring colleagues stay informed about APTrust policies, services, and initiatives.
  • Support Digital Preservation Efforts: Help develop and implement digital preservation strategies within their organization, guiding the selection and preparation of content for deposit into the APTrust repository.
  • Advocate for Participation: Encourage institutional engagement in APTrust activities, working groups, and discussions to strengthen the consortium’s collective knowledge and contributions.
  • Escalate Institutional Needs & Issues: Identify challenges or questions related to APTrust services and escalate them to APTrust staff when necessary.
  • Ensure Security & Compliance: Maintain the security of APTrust credentials and internal documentation related to the organization’s repository use.
  • Extend Collaboration: Where applicable, facilitate the inclusion of strategic partners in cultural heritage preservation through Associate Memberships.

At APTrust

  • Advise on Strategic & Operational Matters: Provide recommendations to the Governing Board and APTrust staff regarding the consortium’s direction and ongoing operations.
  • Refine & Implement Strategic Initiatives: Contribute to shaping and operationalizing APTrust’s strategic priorities to enhance digital preservation infrastructure.
  • Participate in Governance & Working Groups: Engage in working groups and discussions to help refine policies, address challenges, and contribute to the broader digital preservation community.
  • Foster Community Engagement: Help create an environment where members can form and participate in interest groups focused on emerging topics relevant to APTrust and digital preservation.
  • Act as Ambassadors: Represent and promote APTrust’s mission within their professional networks, advocating for the importance of community-driven digital preservation efforts.
  • Nominate & Support Leadership: Participate in selecting representatives for APTrust governance roles, including Advisory Committee members who serve as Board Liaisons.

Services & Benefits

Why should an organization join APTrust instead of building its own repository using AWS or other cloud services?

APTrust offers a comprehensive digital preservation solution that extends beyond basic cloud storage services. While commercial providers like AWS S3, Google Cloud, and Azure supply raw storage space, they often lack the specialized preservation expertise, integrity monitoring, and community-driven governance essential for ensuring long-term accessibility and trustworthiness of digital assets. APTrust addresses these needs through its consortium model, providing secure, redundant cloud storage coupled with automated workflows and a robust support network. Members benefit from active collaboration, shared knowledge, and professional development opportunities within a vibrant community dedicated to the evolution of preservation standards. This collective approach not only mitigates operational burdens but also leverages the collective expertise of member institutions to navigate evolving technologies and regulatory changes effectively.

APTrust has explored this question in-depth in a March 2025 blog post: Why Choose APTrust Over Direct Cloud Storage Solutions?

What service opportunities does APTrust provide staff at member institutions?

APTrust provides several service opportunities for staff at member institutions, enabling them to engage in digital preservation, community governance, and professional development. These opportunities include:

  • Participation in Governance and Advisory Roles
    • Governing Board Representation: Staff from member institutions can serve on the APTrust Governing Board, which provides strategic direction and oversight.
    • Advisory Committees: Members can join the APTrust Community Advisory Committee to influence service development and policy decisions.
  • Contributions to Technical and Policy Development
    • Interest and Working Groups: Staff can participate in interest and working groups focused on technical enhancements, metadata standards, and good practices for digital preservation.
    • Testing and Feedback: Members can contribute to software testing and provide feedback on new APTrust features and tools.
  • Collaboration and Knowledge Sharing
    • User Forums and Mailing Lists: Staff can engage with peers through online forums, mailing list discussions, and Slack channels to share experiences and ask questions.
    • Annual Member Meetings: APTrust hosts bi-annual meetings where members can present case studies, discuss preservation strategies, and learn about new developments.

By participating in these opportunities, staff at member institutions can help shape APTrust’s future, strengthen their digital preservation expertise, and contribute to a collaborative community dedicated to ensuring the long-term accessibility of digital content.

What happens at APTrust membership meetings?

APTrust Member Meetings are dynamic, collaborative gatherings where members come together to discuss digital preservation strategies, share updates on repository developments, and engage in peer-driven conversations about the challenges and opportunities in the field. Held twice a year, these meetings offer a mix of in-person and virtual participation, ensuring broad accessibility and engagement across the consortium.

A typical member meeting includes the following and more:

  • Organizational Updates: APTrust leadership provides reports on membership growth, storage capacity, technical enhancements, and staffing updates. Members gain insights into the overall health and trajectory of the consortium.
  • Technical and Service Developments: The meetings highlight recent and upcoming improvements to APTrust’s suite of services, including updates to repository tools, new features, and enhancements to improve functionality, usability, and sustainability.
  • Strategic Planning and Sustainability: Members engage in discussions about long-term priorities, such as refining the consortium’s strategic direction, addressing sustainability challenges (both organizational and environmental), and considering how broader technological and economic trends impact digital preservation.
  • Member Contributions and Innovations: Lightning talks and presentations allow institutions to share their projects, research, and preservation initiatives. This peer exchange fosters knowledge-sharing and highlights innovative approaches to preservation challenges.
  • Collaborative Problem-Solving: Whether through structured discussions or informal conversations, members explore pressing issues such as repository management, preservation policies, and best practices for ensuring long-term access to digital assets.

Overall, APTrust Member Meetings are crucial touchpoints for strengthening our digital preservation community. They ensure members stay informed, engaged, and actively involved in shaping the consortium’s future.

What is the Digital Preservation Coalition? What are the benefits for APTrust members?

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) is a charitable membership organization dedicated to ensuring a secure digital legacy. Established in 2002, the DPC has evolved into a global community that collaborates to address the challenges of digital preservation. Its mission is to enable members to deliver resilient, sustainable, and useful long-term access to digital content and services. 

APTrust finds DPC membership beneficial for several reasons:

  • Community Engagement: The DPC offers a welcoming and inclusive global community, providing an efficient and effective platform for meaningful and sustained professional exchange. 
  • Good Practice: DPC supports members’ journies toward greater maturity in digital preservation through knowledge exchange, continuous improvement, horizon scanning, advice on standards, authoritative publications, and engaging and informative events.
  • Advocacy: The DPC works towards a better-informed and better-inclined climate of public and institutional policy toward digital preservation. 
  • Workforce Development: The DPC provides opportunities for members to acquire, develop, and retain competent and responsive workforces ready to address digital preservation challenges. 

By joining the DPC, APTrust members can access a range of benefits, including:

  • Participation in Advanced Topical Events and Training: APTrust has five seats at most live virtual events as a full DPC member. 
  • Access to Expert Community: Members can connect with a dedicated DPC staff member through the DPC Champions Program and access the expert community of the Coalition and its members. 
  • Support in Maturity Modeling and Benchmarking: The DPC offers support in maturity modeling, benchmarking against fellow members, and organizational development using the DPC’s Rapid Assessment Model (RAM).

Technical & Operational Details

What is BagIt? Why is BagIt Used in Digital Preservation? Why does APTrust use BagIt? What are BagIt Profiles?

What is BagIt?

BagIt is a hierarchical file packaging specification for reliable digital content storage and transfer. It was developed by the Library of Congress and the California Digital Library to ensure the integrity of files during transfer and storage. A “bag” in BagIt consists of:

  • A payload (the actual digital content)
  • A manifest (checksum files that verify content integrity)
  • A bagit.txt file (which identifies the package as a BagIt bag)
  • An optional tag manifest and metadata files

Why is BagIt Used in Digital Preservation? 

BagIt is widely used in digital preservation because it provides:

  • Integrity Checking: The checksum manifests ensure that files haven’t been altered or corrupted during transfer or storage.
  • Interoperability: Many preservation systems support BagIt, making it a standardized format for exchanging digital content.
  • Flexibility: It can accommodate different types of files and metadata.
  • Simplicity: BagIt structures are easy to create and validate using widely available tools.

Why Does APTrust Use BagIt? 

APTrust uses BagIt as the standard format for ingesting digital content into its preservation repository because:

  • It ensures reliable data transfer from member institutions to APTrust’s storage.
  • It allows for automated integrity validation, reducing the risk of file corruption or data loss.
  • It supports consistent packaging, making managing and restoring digital objects easier.

Members deposit digital objects by placing BagIt bags, serialized as an uncompressed TAR file, in an S3 bucket, where APTrust’s systems process and store them. BagIt ensures that deposits are structured in a predictable and verifiable way.

What are BagIt Profiles? 

BagIt Profiles are extensions of the BagIt standard that define additional bag requirements beyond the core BagIt specification. A BagIt Profile specifies:

  • Required and optional files (e.g., specific metadata files)
  • Accepted checksum algorithms (e.g., SHA-256, MD5)
  • Payload organization rules
  • Allowed metadata fields and values

APTrust has its own BagIt Profile that member institutions follow when preparing deposits. This ensures that all bags adhere to a consistent structure, making them easier to ingest, validate, and manage within the APTrust system.

What does APTrust do with member-deposited content?

When you deposit content with APTrust, we undertake a comprehensive process to ensure its long-term preservation and integrity. Here’s an overview of what happens to your content:

Ingest Process

  • Upload: You begin by uploading your content as a tarred BagIt bag to your institution’s designated receiving bucket.
  • Validation: APTrust validates the bag to ensure it meets the required specifications, checking for completeness and correctness. 
  • Storage: The contents are ingested into our preservation storage system upon successful validation. Depending on the selected storage class, your content is stored in one or more locations to ensure redundancy and safety.

Fixity Checks

To maintain data integrity over time, APTrust performs regular fixity checks:

  • Initial Check: During ingest, we calculate checksums (MD5, SHA1, SHA256, and SHA512) for each file to verify that the content has not been altered during transfer. These stored checksums are used for ongoing and restoration validation fixity checks.
  • Ongoing Checks: For content stored in our High Assurance (Standard) and Premium storage classes, we conduct fixity checks every 180 days to detect potential data corruption. We use redundant copies to restore the original content if an issue is detected. Content stored Basic and Deep Archive storage classes do not receive ongoing fixity checks.
  • Restoration Checks: When restoring a file or object, APTrust will validate the final bag using cryptographically secure checksums.

PREMIS Event Recording

APTrust adheres to the PREMIS (Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies) standard to document all actions taken on your content:

  • Ingestion: Records the completion of the ingest process, confirming that the object and its files have been successfully stored.
  • Fixity Checks: Documents the results of both initial and ongoing fixity checks, ensuring a transparent record of the content’s integrity over time.
  • Replication: Notes when and where copies of the content are made for redundancy.
  • Deletion: If content is deleted, the event is recorded, including details of the request and action taken.

These PREMIS events provide a detailed preservation history, ensuring transparency and accountability in the stewardship of your digital content. PREMIS events can be viewed at the object-level on the object details page or at the file-level on the file details page. They may also be retrieved via the Member API.

Following these rigorous processes, APTrust ensures that your deposited content remains secure, intact, and accessible for the long term.