Module 5: Building the Archive Institution

Duration: 2 weeks Type: Institutional Design & Strategy

Module Overview

You've preserved content. Now how do you build an institution that can keep preserving for decades?

In this module, you'll design a sustainable digital preservation organization from the ground up. You'll create governance models, develop funding strategies, build communities, and plan for long-term institutional survival. This is about turning crisis-response preservation into enduring infrastructure.

Learning Objectives

1. Design governance structures: Create decision-making systems that balance expertise, community input, and accountability 2. Develop sustainable funding models: Move beyond emergency fundraising to long-term financial stability 3. Build preservation communities: Engage volunteers, users, and stakeholders 4. Plan for institutional longevity: Design systems that outlast founders 5. Navigate organizational challenges: Handle conflicts, succession, mission drift

Required Readings

- Textbook Chapter 11: Sustainable Preservation Organizations - Textbook Chapter 14: Memory Institutions for the Digital Age - Elinor Ostrom, "Governing the Commons" (selected chapters) - Case studies: Internet Archive, Archive Team, Library of Congress

Assignment: Design Your Archive

Week 1: Organizational Design

Create a complete organizational plan for a digital preservation institution.

Choose your organizational type:

Option A: Grassroots Collective (volunteer-run, minimal budget) Option B: Professional Nonprofit ($500K-2M annual budget, paid staff) Option C: Institutional Archive (university or library-based)

Your plan must include:

1. Mission & Values (1-2 pages) - What do you preserve and why? - What are your core principles? - What defines success?

2. Governance Structure (2-3 pages) - Decision-making: consensus, democracy, expert-led? - Board composition - Community input mechanisms - Succession planning

3. Organizational Chart (diagram) - Roles and responsibilities - Reporting structure - How many people (volunteers or paid)?

4. Funding Model (3-4 pages) - Revenue streams (grants, donations, membership, services?) - Budget breakdown (first year, five-year projection) - Financial sustainability plan - What happens if funding dries up?

5. Community Engagement (2-3 pages) - Who are your stakeholders? - How do you build volunteer capacity? - How do users/donors participate in governance? - Communication and outreach strategy

Deliverable: Full organizational plan (12-15 pages) + budget spreadsheet

Week 2: Scenario Planning

Test your institution against three crisis scenarios:

Scenario 1: Funding Collapse Major funder pulls out, losing 60% of budget. How do you survive?

Scenario 2: Governance Crisis Founder/director leaves or is accused of misconduct. How does leadership transition?

Scenario 3: Mission Conflict Community wants to preserve controversial content (hate speech, leaked documents). Board disagrees. Who decides?

For each scenario, write: - How your governance structure handles it - What mechanisms prevent or mitigate crisis - What you'd do differently in your design

Deliverable: Scenario analysis (4-5 pages)

Assessment Rubric

- Governance design (25%): Thoughtful decision-making structures - Financial realism (25%): Viable funding models and budgets - Community engagement (20%): Authentic stakeholder participation - Crisis resilience (20%): Organization can survive challenges - Documentation quality (10%): Clear, professional presentation

"Archives don't die from lack of content. They die from lack of sustainable institutions to steward that content across generations."