Four people sitting around a small table in a casual meeting setting. One person is speaking and gesturing with hands, while others are listening attentively. A laptop is open on the table, and the group is seated on cushioned chairs in a bright room with a whiteboard in the background

Training

Explore our regular series of workshops designed to upskill your organisation.

We offer regular workshops designed for professionals who steward digital assets and manage data in cultural heritage organisations and beyond. Our workshops provide hands-on experience with accessible software and hardware that can support digital preservation professionals in their practice. Our training also introduces attendees to key frameworks in fields across digital preservation, records management, and digital forensics that are vital to planning and delivery in an organisational setting.  

 

Upskilling staff and ensuring their sustainable learning is an essential component of a successful digital preservation programme. Our workshops ensure that organisations in the cultural heritage sector, and beyond, are empowered to safeguard their collections into the future. 

 

Current workshop rotation

Mastering Metadata for Digital Preservation

This workshop responds to a need to equip digital preservation professionals, archivists, librarians, data managers, and researchers with essential technical skills to efficiently clean, standardise, and enrich metadata to enhance and semi-automate their workflows.   

 

Indicative Topics: 

 

  • Identifying and resolving issues in messy metadata using software such as OpenRefine.
  • Enhancing metadata interoperability.
  • Crosswalking between metadata standards (e.g., Dublin Core, MODS, MARC). 
     

Foundations of Digital Preservation: Integrity Checking, Format Migration, and Workflows 


This is a hands-on workshop designed to introduce the core concepts, tools, and workflows needed to preserve digital content with integrity and sustainability. 

Indicative Topics:  

 

  • Identifying file formats using tools like DROID and Siegfried  
  • Understanding the structure of file formats and signatures through hexadecimal editors 
  • Converting proprietary files to open preservation-friendly formats 
  • Packaging and validating files for secure storage and transfer  
  • Ensuring long-term access through file integrity checks 

 

Learning to Work with Audiovisual and Legacy Media 

This hands-on workshop brings together forensic imaging workflows and audiovisual digitization approaches. Participants will gain a clear understanding of when and how to apply each method within a preservation strategy.   

 

Indicative topics: 

  • Identify digital and time-based storage media, common formats and metadata
  • Apply forensic imaging techniques to legacy digital carriers (e.g., floppy disks, CDs, USB drives)
  • Capture audiovisual content from formats such as MiniDisc and other time-based media

  • Integrate these workflows into institutional practices that support long-term preservation and access 

     

Cybersecurity for Information Professionals  

This hands-on workshop aims to introduce information professionals (data and records, heritage, digital assets) to key cybersecurity concepts, strategies, and tools for protecting digital assets. Participants will learn to identify common threats, apply protective measures using open-source tools, and respond effectively to incidents through preservation-aligned workflows. 
 

Indicative topics: 

  • Core concepts of information security (confidentiality, integrity, availability) in a digital preservation context
  • Fixity checking and integrity monitoring as tools for detecting corruption or tampering
  • Encryption and decryption basics for protecting sensitive data and understanding ransomware
  • Incident response fundamentals  

 

Next Available Dates 

View our next available dates at this link or or contact us at digitalpreservation@soton.ac.uk. 

 

Frequenty Asked Questions (FAQ) 

 

Are your workshops online? 

 

All our workshops are fully online. 

 

Do I require specific software or hardware for the workshop?  

 

We email participants prior to the workshop with detailed instructions regarding required software and access to learning materials. We work with organisations with strict IT requirements and provide alternatives when software download is not an option. 

 

In general, participants will require access to a laptop with Microsoft Teams installed. 

 

I can’t make the next date. Will you be running a workshop again? 

 

We run workshops on a monthly basis. Therefore, we are likely to offer a certain workshop again in 3-4 months. Please email us at digitalpreservation@soton.ac.uk to inquire about next dates and to express your scheduling preferences.  

 

Are there discounted places available?  

 

Yes, we are able to evaluate cases for discounted places, particularly for participants from Official Development Assistance (ODA) countries. Please email digitalpreservation@soton.ac.uk with a brief note on your situation and we will offer you a discounted ticket.   

 

We are also able to direct you to funding opportunities in the sector that might aid you in accessing our training. Do not hesitate to contact us, we’d be happy to discuss.