One week to go! DPLAfest 2016 Highlights

By DPLA, April 6, 2016.
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Can you believe DPLAfest 2016 is only a week away? We are very excited about the fantastic line-up of presentations, workshops, hackathons & fun events in store. DPLAfest represents a one-of-a-kind opportunity to bring together the folks who are producing digital cultural heritage, using these collections for innovative research and education, and thinking big about what how developments in technology, policy, and open access will shape the future of our work.

17209145826_8214320ec9_kDPLAfest welcomes anyone interested in libraries, technology, ebooks, education, creative reuse of cultural materials, open access, digitization and digital collections, and family research. DPLAfest 2016 will be co-hosted by the National Archives and Records Administration, the Library of Congress, and the Smithsonian Institution and this year’s fest promises to be bigger than ever.

We’ve highlighted a few sessions sure to appeal to everyone, but don’t forget you can always login to Sched to customize your DPLAfest schedule with your favorite sessions and events!

DPLAfest 2016: Spotlight Sessions

  • Get hacking before the official start of the fest at the Cultural Heritage Hackathon, where you can work with the DPLA’s tech team to get hands-on and creative with DPLA data, no matter what your technical expertise is.  Dreaming of building that cultural heritage app? Here’s your chance to make it happen!
  • Authorship in the Digital Age panelists, DPLAfest 2016

    Authorship in the Digital Age panelists, DPLAfest 2016

    At the Authorship in the Digital Age panel, leading contemporary authors will talk writing in the digital age: What does it mean to write a book, digital or print or both? What new technologies and processes are re-defining the role of the author? Don’t miss your chance to talk with Robin Sloan​, author of Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore​; Virginia Heffernan​, digital culture writer featured in The New York Times and author of the forthcoming book Magic and Loss: The Internet as Art; and Craig Mod, essayist, photographer, and start-up consultant based in Tokyo. This panel will be moderated by DPLA Board Member Sarah Burnes, literary agent for The Gernert Company.

  • Join us to look ahead at the future of libraries and technology trends with some of the leading voices in the field, including Pew Research Center’s Lee Rainie, Law Librarian of Congress Roberta Shaffer and DC Public Library director Richard Reyes-Gavilan with The Aspen Institute’s Amy Garmer.  DPLA Board Member Jamie Hollier from Anneal, Inc. will chat with library technologist Carson Block, Alison Macrina of Library Freedom Project and Khan Academy’s John Resig on the latest in tech trends for libraries — don’t miss your chance to be in the room for these important conversations!
  • Teachers, faculty, museum educators and school librarians, look for the education sessions running throughout the fest.  Presenters from the DPLA Education team will join representatives from leading national organizations such as the Smithsonian Learning Lab and the National Archives as well as local institutions and classroom educators bringing DPLA’s resources directly to students.
Scene from DPLAfest 2015 at the Indiana State Library.

Scene from DPLAfest 2015 at the Indiana State Library.

  • DPLAfest will also bring together representatives from several innovative projects working at the intersection of social justice, archival practice, and cultural identity: A People’s Archive of Police Violence in Cleveland empowers community members as archivists; the South Asian American Digital Archive gives voice to underrepresented communities to combat the silences of traditional archives; Local Contexts and the Mukurtu CMS provide a new paradigm for the management and sharing of indigenous peoples’ cultural heritage and intellectual property. Learn more about these sessions here and here.
  • And last, but certainly not least, join us to discuss the library ebook landscape and explore the next steps in maximizing access to ebooks for all.  In our ebook series, we will hear from a variety of stakeholders about the latest in the field and set goals for the year to come!

 

We can’t wait to see you in D.C. — and if you can’t make it this year, join the conversation online using #DPLAfest and we will make recordings of selected sessions available after the fest!

Courtesy of The Portal to Texas History, http://dp.la/item/90b7ed57c13ecbf935955a4c59e05265

Courtesy of The Portal to Texas History