Katherine Skinner is executive director of the Educopia Institute, a not-for-profit educational organization that builds networks and collaborative communities to help cultural, scientific, and scholarly institutions achieve greater impact. Skinner, who has a doctorate from Emory University, has co-edited three books and co-authored the landmark “Guidelines for Digital Newspaper Preservation Readiness” with Matt Schultz.

1. Dr. Katherine Skinner, Executive Director, Educopia Institute
Dodging the Memory Hole 2016
October 13-14, UCLA
@Educopia
Alignment and Reciprocity

2. @Educopia

3. Angle of repose
Photo Credit: Chiara Ferroni https://unsplash.com/photos/fUbtdL_adv0 @Educopia

4. Critical transitions
• These mark the space between one stable
state and another.
• Ecology, biology, economics, sociology, etc.
– Identifiable criteria
– Identifiable signals
• Require analysis of the whole system
Figure Credit: Rui Liu, Pei Chen, Kazuyuki Aihara, and Luonan Chen, http://www.nature.com/articles/srep17501 @Educopia

5. Principle 1: Systems tend toward stasis
Photo: Curious Expeditions, https://www.flickr.com/photos/curiousexpeditions/489992128/in/set-72157600192489765/ @Educopia

6. Principle 2: Stasis fails when key conditions align
Photo Credit: FlippyCat https://www.youtube.com/flippycat @Educopia
e.g., Changes in the means of communication, New stakeholders in the system, Changes in political structures,
Changes in the economy, etc…

7. Principle 3: Innovations happen on the fringes
Photo: Sam Schooler, https://unsplash.com/photos/E9aetBe2w40 @Educopia

8. Principle 4: Human networks create change
Photo Credits: Ashes Sitoula, https://unsplash.com/photos/UfEyDdXlRp8;
David Ramos, http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/07/14276532-a-human-tower-under-construction-in-spain @Educopia

9. alignment is a
transformative
tactic
IF
Systems tend toward
stasis
Critical transitions are
rare and recognizable
Human networks
move innovations
from fringe to center
Change depends on
the support of
networks of people
THEN
@Educopia

10. What do we gain from coordination?
@Educopia

11. What have we heard?
We need to meet
the nerds where
they are. (Ben)
We need both
business and social
good arguments for
preserving news
(Matt)
We have to be mindful of
organizational stability—
even strong corporations
are not designed for long-
term survival (Ana)
We need to ally
tech/data
infrastructures with
archival techniques
and principles (Kate)
There is a crucial
relationship between
accountability and
preservation
(Hjalmar)
Terms of service have
changed. We are now
renting and leasing, not
owning in perpetuity.
(Chris)
LC can demand
copyright deposit.
It has chosen not
to. (Cliff)
We need to put
archiving on the same
footing as security,
internationalization
(Ben)
He who controls
the past controls
the future (Orwell
via Evan)

12. What can we do?
Assemble news
hackers and lib/archive
hackers (Hacks and
Hackers meets
Code4Lib)
Create and test
business models
for preserving
news
Collecting social
media as primary
source material
Coordinate with
associations serving
each stakeholder
community
Create a registry
of digital news
preservation
Produce more plugins
for preservation for
major platforms
Produce advocacy
pieces designed
for specific
audiences
Forward
working
models
Talk to your
local paper and
report back.

13. Conduits for action
• DTMH Google Group
• Savenews.org
• Project teams
• #dtmh2016

14. Photo: Wikimedia Commons Tim Felce (Airwolfhound). File:Starling (5503763150).jpg @Educopia

15. Impact
For more on the science of starling murmuration see PLOS, “Starling Flock Networks”:
http://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002894
@Educopia

16. Katherine Skinner
katherine@educopia.org
404 783 2534