On March 12, 2025, the Michigan Digital Preservation Network (MDPN) celebrated a major milestone with the official launch of the world’s first digital preservation network powered by LOCKSS 2.0 software. The occasion was marked by a virtual ribbon-cutting ceremony livestreamed from MDPN’s five server locations across Michigan and attended by more than 60 participants from around the globe. The launch delivers on the Network’s goal to demonstrate proof-of-concept for the newly rearchitected LOCKSS software, as part of the MDPN’s National Leadership for Libraries Grant awarded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS) in 2022. 

The MDPN provides accessible preservation services to Michigan institutions by helping libraries and other cultural memory organizations protect their digital local history collections and essential business records. Documents uploaded to the LOCKSS 2.0 Network are protected from various threats like natural disasters, technological obsolescence, and ransomware.  

LOCKSS, which stands for Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe, is open-source preservation software developed and supported by Stanford University Libraries and an international community of users. LOCKSS 2.0 is an updated version of the original LOCKSS software that offers greater interoperability and flexibility for users. As the first LOCKSS 2.0-native network, the MDPN serves as a model for future collaborative preservation networks around the world. 

“The MDPN has gone from dream to reality thanks to a great deal of hard work by many stakeholders in the MDPN, LOCKSS, and digital preservation communities. It would not exist without the critical funds, time, and effort that the Library of Michigan, MCLS, IMLS, the MDPN node [server] hosts, and MDPN’s committees and working groups have contributed. We’re really proud that MDPN is the first network of its kind in the world, and that several MCLS staff and many others collaborated to get it launched,” said Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS) Executive Director Scott Garrison. 

The MDPN is made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library of Michigan and a grant to the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services. It is supported by its members, the Library of Michigan, an agency of the Michigan Department of Education, and the Midwest Collaborative for Library Services (MCLS). MCLS operates the MDPN in partnership with Network server hosts at Capital Area District Libraries, Eastern Michigan University, Michigan State University, Northern Michigan University, Traverse Area District Library, and Western Michigan University.

To learn more about the MDPN, including how to become a member, visit mipres.org.