DLF Forum Presentations
An Overview of Emulation as a Preservation Method
Authors: Kaltman, Eric, Schwaid-Lindner, Winnie, Jonathan, Drey, Borman, Andrew, Garnett, Alex, Masinter, Larry
Year: 2025Emulation–the use of modern computer systems to run historical software–is a growing practice within libraries, archives, museums, and galleries that is essential to conserving and providing ongoing access to the digital past. Emulation makes it possible to interact with historical data and digital artifacts in ways that are more consistent with their creators’ intentions, helping contemporary users better understand how and why those artifacts were made. Increasingly, academic and cultural organizations face challenging decisions about using emulation to preserve and provide access to their collections. An Overview of Emulation as a Preservation Method introduces fundamental concepts related to emulation in practice and explains key considerations that can inform these decisions. The report also includes a review of academic literature related to emulation and suggests new avenues for potential future collaboration and exploration. Together, the conceptual overview, example use cases, and literature review provide readers new to emulation with an orientation to the current state of practice as well as an understanding of the important role of emulation in the larger field of digital preservation.
The six authors of the report are members of the Software Preservation Network (SPN) Technological Infrastructure Working Group. Over several years, this group has been documenting and sharing insights about emulation workflows actively employed in academic and cultural settings. Their work aims to establish best practices and inform scalable infrastructure solutions that can be broadly shared so that legacy software can become more accessible and maintainable in the future.
Annual Report: 2023-2024
Authors: Council on Library and Information Resources
Year: 2025Annual Report for the Council on Library and Information Resources, 2023-2024
Archivist Actions, Abolitionist Futures: Reimagining Archival Practice Against Incarceration
Authors: Clemens, Alison, Farrell, Jessica
Year: 2025This collection of brief essays challenges long-held principles of archival practice by addressing the carceral underpinnings of the cultural professions. Contributors explore how complicity with carceral systems and the Prison Industrial Complex undermines equitable access to information and perpetuates systemic harms. Drawing from their experiences working with collections documenting the lives and creativity of incarcerated individuals, the authors reflect on how traditional archival methods often fall short of providing respectful access to these materials. The volume offers a call to action for reimagining archival work grounded in abolitionist values.