Laura Molloy: 'Performances, preservation and policy implications: digital curation and preservation awareness and strategy in the performing arts'. Presentation to the Digital Preservation for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DPASSH) conference, Dublin, Eire, 26 June 2015. Please contact laura.molloy AT glasgow.ac.uk for further information on the study described.

1. Performance, preservation and
policy: digital curation and
preservation awareness and strategy
in the performing arts
Laura Molloy
Digital Curation Centre
HATII, University of Glasgow
E: laura.molloy AT glasgow.ac.uk / @LM_HATII
DPASSH, Dublin. Friday 26 June 2015

2. DC/DP skills development
resources for the performing arts
Existing research and initiatives:
• There’s not much
• Mostly focused on research and practice
within institutional context
– Notable exception: InterPARES
• Some fixed-term projects but little sign of
uptake / routine inclusion in education

3. digital objects
in the
performing
arts
objects created
in order to serve
as
documentation
of performance
What I’m on about today. (P.S. Not to scale.)
Digital documentation – just part of the picture.

4. Image: Ed Fay: @digitalfay

5. Definitions. (Yay.)
• The performing arts
• Practitioner (self-employed)
• Digital object
• Digital curation and preservation

7. Practitioner-focused study:
selected findings
Respondent profile:
• Small study (not representative of the entire
professional sector)
• Currently working in UK
• Self-defined artforms
• Most work in multiple artforms
• 8/12 self funding; 9/12 public / charity funded

8. Practitioner focused study:
selected findings
Digital object (DO) creation and use:
• Widespread: 11/12 create and all (12/12) use
• 10/12 report valued specific use for preserved
DOs = economic benefit

9. Practitioner focused study:
selected findings
‘Preservation’ of performance work:
• 9/12: uncertainty displayed re. ‘preservation’
• All believe practitioners en masse should
preserve (at least in some contexts)
• 11/12 believe they preserve own work
• 8/12 put things in a cardboard box
• 7/12 conflate creation and preservation of
documentation

10. Practitioner focused study:
selected findings
Access to DOs created by self and others:
• 9/12 rate access to digital collections
‘somewhat’ or ‘extremely’ important to their
workflow
• 8/12 expect their DOs to be available in
perpetuity / as long as desired
• 10/12 in favour of access by other
practitioners for research

11. Practitioner focused study:
emerging themes
• No relationship between artform and level of DC/DP
skill / knowledge; or between creation of born-digital
work and DC/DP knowledge
• PA practitioners: active in creation and use of DOs
– In favour of access to DOs for community of practice
– Expect DOs to exist in perpetuity
– BUT low levels of DC/DP awareness and skill
= suggests awareness and skills gap across
community of practice

12. Practitioner focused study:
emerging recommendations
• Uptake of existing skills development resources in
FE/HE PA education
• Need for advocacy to FE/HE, creative funders, PA
representative organisations
• Need for good practice expectations / policy from
funders for practitioner use
• Guidance for sustainable DO management available
from funders as part of bidding process
• Anything else?

13. Thanks for your attention!
Laura Molloy
Digital Curation Centre
HATII, University of Glasgow
E: laura.molloy AT glasgow.ac.uk
@LM_HATII