As of June 18, 2026, the NDSA Leadership unanimously voted to welcome its six most recent applicants into the membership:

  • Kronika
  • West Chester University
  • Hamilton Public Library Local History and Archives (Canada)
  • State Library of Queensland (Australia)
  • University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hamilton Library
  • The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kronika was eager to join the NDSA to align their operational rigor with a global community of practice dedicated to high-standard digital stewardship. They are deeply embedded in the intersection of technology and media heritage, an interest that stems from a desire to contribute to the evolving standards of digital preservation while gaining access to a network of peers who prioritize long-term accessibility over ephemeral trends. Kronika views membership as an opportunity to pressure-test their internal methodologies—specifically their focus on “tool-kit” in infrastructure, where the emphasis is on durable, high-fidelity preservation rather than rapid, low-quality data accumulation.

West Chester University joined NDSA as a commitment to the long-term preservation and access of the digital collections under their care. WCU University Libraries collect digital materials in two collections (Special Collections and the West Chester University Digital Commons institutional repository) that support research and learning for students, faculty, and members of their wider community. As these digital collections continue to grow, West Chester University Libraries are committed to the ongoing development of practices, workflows, and infrastructure guided by recognized standards and best practices in digital preservation.

The Hamilton Public Library Local History and Archives (Canada) is in the process of developing a digital preservation system, in order to better steward our growing collection of born-digital and digitized materials.Their goal, which they are on the way to achieving, is to continue collecting born-digital and digitized material that they can confidently preserve on a managed Preservica instance, monitored by knowledgeable staff. To help reach this goal, they joined NDSA because membership provides access to a breadth of digital preservation knowledge and know-how through engagement with fellow members. As newcomers to this field, they are eager to learn as much as they can and compare their experiences with those of similar institutions tackling similar challenges.

The State Library of Queensland (Australia) joined NDSA because their Strategic Plan 2025-29 has a key objective of ‘Collecting memories – Sharing knowledge and stories through [their] collections’. To achieve this one of the strategies is to ‘Preserve the collection for future generations through the development of resilient and robust systems and plans’. One of the main components is their Digital Preservation Maturity Plan 2025-28, based on the NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation framework.

The University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Hamilton Library is at the heart of the University’s intellectual and scholarly life. Its internationally recognized collections relating to Hawaiʻi, Oceania, the Pacific Islands, and Asia, support teaching, learning, and research both on campus and among scholars worldwide. To sustain its role as a center of knowledge and scholarship, the Library must ensure the long-term stewardship of its growing digital assets. Achieving this goal requires a deliberate shift from our current practices to a comprehensive, standards-based approach to digital preservation advocated by the National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA). Membership in the NDSA is an important component of our strategy.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art has long been a steward of one of the world’s greatest collections of art and artifacts, but now turns to consider the long-term preservation of their digital records—which support the research, scholarship, and overall informational access to a 2-million object collection. They are working to fully integrate digital preservation procedures and practices into their operations across several museum departments. NDSA membership provides an immense benefit by being part of a group that sets the pace on the important evolving area of digital preservation research.

Each organization participates in one or more of the various interest and working groups – so keep an eye out for them on your calls and be sure to give them a shout out. Please join me in welcoming our new members. To review our list of members, you can see them here.

- NDSA Membership Working Group