Call for Participation - Mailbag Specification Working Meeting (closed)

The M.E. Grenander Department of Special Collections & Archives at the University at Albany, SUNY, seeks community members to participate in a working meeting to assist the Mailbag Project in writing the Mailbag specification.

The Project Team is working on an initial draft of the Mailbag specification, which will be a functional extension of the BagIt specification with requirements for preserving multiple formats for email archives. The structured “bag” required by the Mailbag specification will allow automated tools to act upon email archives to support preservation and access workflows. The Mailbag specification will allow the Mailbag Project to create a Python library, command line utility, and basic Graphical User Interface (GUI) for creating and managing “Mailbags.”

The Mailbag Project is hosting a working meeting to ensure wider participation in the writing process so the specification will meet a broader array of use cases. The working meeting will be held virtually on May 14th, 2021 from 2pm-4pm, EST. As a participant, you will be awarded a $200 honorarium and be listed as one of the specification contributors. The project team anticipates making 6-10 awards.

Requirements

Interested applicants are required to:

  • Perform a detailed review of the initial draft of the Mailbag specification prior to the virtual working meeting
  • Attend the virtual working meeting on May 14th, 2021 from 2pm-4pm, EST

and possess skills and experience in:

  • digital preservation
  • electronic records
  • an understanding of and experience working with the Bagit specification
  • experience manipulating data in an archives or library setting (spreadsheets definitely count)

Preferred applicants would have experience in:

  • Creating and managing email exports
  • Processing email archives

We strongly encourage self-nominations from individuals who identify with underrepresented and/or marginalized populations, including those not well-represented within libraries, archives, or technology (e.g. women, people of color, LGBTQ+, ability/disability, non-binary gender identities, etc.) We also encourage applications from members of underrepresented and/or marginalized groups that don’t fit into the categories listed above.

Application Process

Applications will consist of:

  • An existing CV or resume
  • A brief statement of interest in the project, about 200 words.

Interested applicants should complete the application form and email a CV or resume to gwiedeman [at] albany [dot] edu, by no later than April 19, 2021.