The Foundation Rinascimento Digitale, the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities (the Direzione Generale per gli Archivi in conjunction with the Direzione Generale per i Beni Librari, gli Istituti Culturali ed il Diritto d’Autore), the Library of Congress and the PREMIS Editorial Committee are delighted to announce the workshop on PREMIS Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies, taking place in Rome, Italy, on 5 - 6 February 2009.

The issue of the preservation of repository content is essential, but in many cases there remain many unresolved issues. Which standards and tools can support repository managers in their work today? Are different standards and practices in preservation metadata consistent with the PREMIS (Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies) Data Dictionary? What are the reasons and benefits for implementing PREMIS? This event attempts to pave the way towards exchange of experience, collective recommendations, practical supports, tools and demonstrations; it will be also an opportunity to meet some important preservation projects supported and funded by the European Commission, such as: DPE, CASPAR, PLANETS. The event will close with aparticipatory discussion session.

The workshop aims at developing and spreading awareness and knowledge about metadata to support the long term preservation of digital objects, in particular it focuses on the PREMIS standard, which is managed by the PREMIS Editorial Committee (www.loc.gov/standards/premis/) in conjunction with the Library of Congress. PREMIS doesn’t offer a comprehensive solution, but it moves institutions closer to implementation in addressing preservation metadata requirements for long term management of digital objects.

The event is divided in two parts: a tutorial and a round table. The first day at the tutorial (for max 30 people) Rebecca Guenther introduces PREMIS development and the PREMIS semantic units and gives an overview of current approaches for implementation. The second day a round table evaluates the relationships of the PREMIS standard with other metadata standards for digital archives with a specific attention at the cultural heritage Italian community. Participants will be invited to share their experiences and should be planning for or operating a repository that implements PREMIS in some way for its preservation metadata. They will consider open issues in PREMIS implementation in order to stimulate an open debate on user needs and implementation strategies.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND
A wide range of cultural heritage operators, researchers and technology developers, professional educators, involved in management and preservation of digital archives.