DPLAfest 2013: Content

At this year’s DPLAfest opening reception on October 24, the three main elements of the DPLA were re-iterated to the audience: that it is a portal, a platform, and a strong public option. As you can see in the conference live notes, these elements were touched upon independently throughout the October 25 workshop series. However, these three missions really converged in discussions about DPLA content.

Several workshops addressed directions for DPLA content expansion. The Exploring New Collections and Collections Strategies workshop talked about areas for content growth by type, institution, and topic, in addition to calling for new interfaces that would allow users to collect and make their own exhibits. Participants identified several content priorities for the future: growing our collection of moving images and sound materials, building our museum partnerships, and working with increasingly diverse content and partners. E-books also emerged as a content priority, as discussed in the Alternative Approaches to Digital Hosting and E-book Licensing workshop. This group imagined platforms, publishing negotiations and distribution methods for e-books, and the role that the DPLA can play in the transition for libraries.

DPLAfest also included a number of discussions about rights management. A main component of this conversation was a future plan to collaborate with Europeana to develop a list of rights statements, generally applicable to both the United States and Europe, that will make content usability easier across countries. During The Elephant in the Room: Copyright and New Ways Forward, workshop participants called for DPLA to create a toolkit for teaching and learning basics about copyright, fair use, and open access. A key takeaway from the Maximizing Open Access and the DPLA workshop was the need to develop an engaging and accessible rights communication plan. Through this plan, the DPLA could share case studies that illustrate how open access helps increase traffic to our partner hubs with potential new collaborators.

Content was also a major thread throughout the discussion in Future Libraries Think Tank. This workshop examined how libraries can work to embrace technology and engage with their communities. The concept of libraries as “sharing spaces” came up frequently, as places where users could make something with their research in a public-facing way. These content conversations merge into a broad view of libraries as a places for open access and civic responsibility, where they work as partners with communities to make change happen. The DPLA hopes to make significant impact in this realm, both through growing content collection on the web and in local libraries through DPLA Local.

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