Digital Capacity Survey: Help shape the CNSA’s training and services

Are you staff or a volunteer at a CNSA member institution? An Individual or Student member? We want to hear from you — whatever your level of digital experience!

The CNSA’s Digital Capacity Survey will help us understand members’ digital skills and the resources available to care for digital records. Your answers will guide new education, training, and services that respond to members’ needs and level of digital literacy. They will also help strengthen CNSA’s advocacy for greater support for archives in Nova Scotia.

Why your participation matters

Whether born-digital or digitized, digital records require ongoing care to remain usable and accessible. Caring for them requires different skills and resources than caring for physical records, to prevent file corruption, loss of context, and accidental deletion. 

The CNSA wants to understand what members already know about digital preservation, what you are doing, where your challenges lie, and what would help you build your digital capacity.

You do not need digital preservation experience to fill out the survey – far from it. Whether you’re already managing digital collections, just getting started, or unsure where to begin, your answers are valuable. In fact, understanding gaps in knowledge and resources across our membership will allow us to tailor digital preservation supports to your actual needs.

The survey results will also give the CNSA current information about archives’ staffing, funding, and infrastructure, which will strengthen our advocacy to policymakers and funders for increased support for archives in Nova Scotia.

Who should participate, and how long will it take?

All members: approx. 10 minutes total

We invite Individual and Student members, as well as staff and volunteers at member institutions, to complete the digital literacy portion of the survey. You are welcome to participate whether or not you currently work with digital records. The questions in this part of the survey are simply about your comfort levels with various types of technology and apps. 

All members, including staff and volunteers at member organizations, are encouraged to complete the digital literacy portion. The more responses we have the better! Please share the survey link with staff and volunteers at your institution.

One designated respondent per member institution: approx. 30–45 minutes total

Please choose one person from your organization to complete the full survey. In addition to the digital literacy portion, designated respondents will answer questions about your archives’ budget, staffing, and digital infrastructure, plus the size and scope of your digital collections. 

You can complete the survey in stages, saving your progress and returning later. Ideally, your designated respondent will be the person most familiar with your digital collections and the resources available to care for them. 

How will your responses be used?

Individual survey responses will be used internally by CNSA and will not be made public. Any findings or data shared publicly, including for advocacy, will be anonymized so that individual respondents and organizations cannot be identified.

Have questions or need help?

If you have questions or need help understanding or answering any part of the survey, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Thank you for helping us help you! 🙂