How to Get Involved in the Bitcurator Consortium

The BitCurator Consortium (BCC) is an independent, community-led membership association that serves as the host and center of administrative, user, and community support for the BitCurator environment. Its purpose is to support the curation of born-digital materials through the application of open-source digital forensics tools by institutions responsible for such materials. The BitCurator Consortium operates as an affiliated community of the Educopia Institute, a non-profit organization that facilitates collaborative communities toward collective impact. 

What interests you about participating in the BitCurator community? Some of our active members shared that they appreciate working through processes with other members or practicing leadership in a safe environment. Still others note that the community is a great opportunity to learn about new tools. In fact, a recent report shared at iPres ’22 noted that conferences and online communities are the most popular way professionals find information about useful tools. Community is very important for staying energized and advancing knowledge management. How will you participate?

Access BCC Communications

1. Subscribe to the BCC Newsletter for occasional updates
2. Subscribe to the BCC Listserv to chat with fellow members (members only)
3. Subscribe to the BitCurator Users Google Group to get help using BitCurator

Five quick ways members and active volunteers can get involved

1. Join our monthly community calls, 4th Friday of the month at 2pm ET | 11am PT | 7pm UTC. (members only)
   
2. Participate in upcoming events and training opportunities. (Remember: members receive discount registration rates for our flagship event, the BitCurator Forum, and early registration for all public events!)
3. Do you have a project idea in need of collaborators? Fill out this form to join a group and work on or propose a project! (Note that only institutional and group members can start up new BCC groups, but anyone is invited to join an existing group.)
   • The Documentation & Training Committee reviews, updates, and maintains BitCurator documentation. This Committee is also responsible for creating and coordinating training opportunities accessible to users of all skill levels.
   • The Membership Committee oversees work related to maintaining and growing the BCC membership base, including new member recruitment, new member onboarding and offboarding programs, and developing advocacy support for becoming a BCC member.
   • The BitCurator Forum Committee plans and implements the annual BitCurator Forum. The committee is charged with planning the content, structure, and logistics of the Forum by reviewing proposals, selecting a host location, choosing a conference theme, etc., as well as building an inclusive space that helps strengthen and sustain a community of digital archives practitioners.
   • The Software Development Committee provides input and guidance on the development of the BitCurator software.
4. Contact the BCC community facilitator if you need more help accessing anything here, to help bring your co-workers into the community, or to learn more about a committee or group!

Using BitCurator

• QuickStart Guide – Get up and running with the BitCurator environment
• BitCurator User Documentation – Full user’s guide to the BitCurator environment
• Instructional Videos and Case Studies – Workflow screencasts, demos, and case studies in using BitCurator
• Workflow documentation – Institution-specific diagrams on processing and other steps

About the Consortium

• Executive Council – Submit project proposals, committee proposals or other BCC project and program queries here
• Public Resources – Find all public resources here. In addition to instructional videos and case studies, there are teaching materials, event recordings, and BitCurator Forum presentations
• The BCC Google Drive has Community Call notes and recordings, committee and project notes, and works in progress. These resources are available to all members (only). Contact us if you are a member who needs to request access to this resource. [members only]

Get Help

• BitCurator Support Guide – Learn how to get support on using the BitCurator environment
• BitCurator Users Google Group – Join this group to get help using BitCurator from the broad BitCurator community
• BCC Listserv – You may also email the BCC listserv to get help from fellow BCC members (members only)
  
• BitCurator Environment Issues Board – Submit, view, vote and watch issues for the software
• BitCurator Discussions on GitHub – Start a discussion about the BitCurator Environment with developers and users on GitHub.
• Receive a workflow assessment from the BCC Membership Committee (members only) – contact us to coordinate a one-on-one consultation on how the BitCurator environment can best suit your organization’s needs