Harvard Library has joined the Software Preservation Network (SPN), a community of institutions dedicated to maintaining digital infrastructure through preserving software. While some colleagues and units at Harvard have engaged individually with the SPN over the last few years, the Library is now a consortium member, reflecting a broad commitment to software preservation and emulation to facilitate enduring access to the library’s most complex digital objects. 

Works like video games, digital art, and virtual world data are among the many artifacts that cannot be rendered without the analogous software. Beyond the objects rendered, software itself has been a transformative component of our digital history. One of the membership benefits of this year is an opportunity to investigate Harvard’s own use cases by enrolling in a pilot of the Emulation-as-a-Service Infrastructure program (EaaSI). Three libraries are participating in the pilot:  

• The Graduate School of Design will use the infrastructure to render dynamic architectural designs created in design-specific software; 

• The Center for Astrophysics will emulate environments for both legacy and contemporary software significant to the advancement of astronomy and astrophysics;

• Houghton Library will use EaaSI to facilitate access to early document, text-based and word-processing formats from their collections. 

Monique Lassere, Digital Archivist at Houghton Library and coordinator of their pilot, has been involved in SPN activities since her previous position at the University of Arizona: “I have worked with SPN in a variety of capacities over the last few years–from participation in the Research Working Group and Advisory Committee to project-based involvement with EaaSI. Through this work I’ve seen up close how crucial a community of practice SPN has become for academic and cultural heritage institutions of various sizes and user bases to learn, grow, and explore software preservation.” 

Preserving executable and source code for software surfaces questions around legal rights, staff training, and infrastructure for collecting institutions. Ongoing membership benefits include participation in various working groups that focus on Law & Policy, Metadata, Research, Technological Infrastructure, Training, and Community Collaboration. Members can also join monthly community calls and nominate themselves for a position on the Coordinating Committee, working to advance SPN’s strategic direction.  

Kyle K. Courtney, Copyright Advisor and Program Manager at the Office for Scholarly Communication, serves on SPN’s Law & Policy working group: “I am delighted that Harvard Library is joining SPN. Harvard Library’s work in empowering fair use, access, and preservation makes SPN a natural partner for engaging with advanced topics involving reuse of software in cultural heritage and research contexts.” 

Widespread participation in SPN from the Harvard Library community will elevate awareness of the importance of software preservation and improve understanding around the complicated dependencies inherent in digital preservation. “The digital preservation mission of the Harvard Library is two-fold: to ensure the persistence of authentic digital objects; and to ensure the persistence of legitimate user experiences of those objects. That latter imperative depends upon effective solutions for preserving software, such as those represented by SPN and the EaaSI initiative,” says Stephen Abrams, Head of Digital Preservation. 

Staff at Harvard Library that are interested in engaging with Harvard’s SPN membership may contact Tricia Patterson to enroll in the local mailing list and get connected to working group opportunities. Please visit the wiki for general updates on membership and activities.