Chris Prom
Archivist and Andrew S.G. Turyn Professor, University Archives
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Kate Murray
Information Technology Specialist, Digital Collections & Management Services
Library of Congress
The Task Force on Technical Approaches to Email, formed in September 2016 and sponsored by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Digital Preservation Coalition, is charged with (a) reexamining and assessing current efforts to preserve email; (b) articulating a conceptual and technical framework in which these efforts can operate not as competing solutions, but as elements of an interoperable toolkit to be applied as needed; and (c) constructing a working agenda for the community to refine this technical framework, adjust existing tools to work within this framework, and begin to fill in missing elements. The Task Force will prepare a report of its findings. The report will include recommendations concerning the specific actions that those interested in email archiving can take to demonstrate within 2-5 years that archives can safely accession and preserve records of human expression in the form of email. In this project briefing, Task Force co-chairs Chris Prom and Kate Murray will report on the Task Force’s work to date and will solicit feedback and input. This input is critical in helping Task Force members shape the final report and recommendations, which will be issued in late 2017.