Press Release: Digital Archives Workshop

**For Immediate Release**May 7, 2019Media Contact: dontshootpdxmedia@protonmail.com

Digital Archivists DocTheNow Select Don’t Shoot Portland to Host May 11th Workshop

In this day and age where nearly all of the worlds’ information and communication is exchanged on the Internet, the importance of digital preservation is becoming an increasingly imperative topic. The act of archiving historical moments via social media, the world wide web and other content is being spearheaded by a project called DocTheNow, and they’re bringing their interactive workshop to Portland this Saturday, May 10th. In our ever-changing digital landscape, it is crucial for activists to assert greater control over their own narratives. The workshop will focus on helping activists develop skills and use available tools such as Tweet Catalog, Hydrator, Twarc and more to collect and preserve within their own archives.

The free, hands-on interactive workshop focuses on teaching the best ways to archive digital content from ongoing activist movements. Following Don’t Shoot Portland founder Teressa Raiford’s keynote speech at SAA in 2017, DocTheNow approached the social justice organization about hosting the Portland installment of the workshops. Archivists, librarians, computer scientists, sociologists, journalists and more make up the DocTheNow team, and we are beyond honored to have their wealth of experience and guidance in this historical initiative.

“When I participated on the archives for Black Lives panel I never thought anyone would use the call to action to return to our communities in support of liberating or preserving our own social movement for black lives Archives. On top of this, Don’t Shoot Portland recently signed a Memorandum Of Understanding with the City of Portland archives to utilize 60ft for storage and preservation of documents and other digital archives of Black led organizing - this includes ‘Hands Up Don’t Shoot’ and the Black Lives Matter work that has been done in Portland since 2010. The timing of the DocTheNow workshop brings it all full circle.” - Teressa Raiford

There is invaluable knowledge to be gained within this workshop - this is crucial for activists utilizing social media to aid in their causes. In creating your own archives, you will secure access to digital content that has been safely captured and preserved through methods that will allow future authentication for evidentiary, research or other purposes. As part of the workshop, the trainers will also share knowledge about digital security and surveillance, as these are issues that negatively impact modern day social justice activism. During the workshop, participants will:

• Build a community-based digital archive for their organization
• Gain a better understanding about data collection, digital security, and surveillance issues around web and social media content.
• Gain new knowledge about digital content generated on mobile devices and develop skills to safely archive that content.
• Build relationships with local archivists and other historical documenters in your city.
• Engage in conversations leading to deeper understanding about how digital content generated in online spaces affects our personal, social and professional lives.

If you have digital images, videos or live-streams from the Ferguson Uprising, 15 NOW, or the Black Lives Matter movement, this workshop is for you. Let’s protect and preserve our content for generations to come. There is still limited space available; Hit the link to reserve your attendance at this monumental workshop.

Please continue to support our work by making donations at DontShootPDX.org and browsing our current art selections through YouCantControlArt.org ###