Welcome and Inclusions

The warmth of the welcome we
offer to you is the warmth we ask you to share with each other.

Digital preservation is all about collaboration. You cannot collaborate alone, and our success is best guaranteed by clearly stating and holding to our values of welcome and inclusion. Everyone has something to offer, and all are welcome in our dynamic and diverse community.

Therefore, as the organizers of iPres 2022 the DPC encourages all participants in the conference, and associated activities, to support us in our commitment to providing an experience and an environment that is inclusive, collaborative, caring and respectful for everyone, whether in-person or virtually.

As a community, we are diverse; we are from a wide range of social, cultural, and professional backgrounds and we are committed to inclusivity, free expression of ideas, and creating an experience in which participants feel welcome to learn and exchange ideas in an environment of mutual respect. We ask that all those who are participating in any iPres event or within the iPres community are constructive, accepting, and sensitive to the needs and feelings of others.

As hosts we are committed to an enjoyable and enriching environment for people with a wide range of knowledge and experience. So as delegates we ask that you share that spirit of respect and friendly professional inquiry to all your interactions.

Examples of positive behavior include but are not limited to:

Listening and supporting others to learn
Using welcoming and inclusive language (such as the gender neutral ‘everyone’ or ‘folks’ instead of ‘men’ and ‘women’) Being respectful of differing viewpoints and experiences
Gracefully accepting constructive criticism Respecting and valuing the contributions of all members of the community, regardless of status or role
Showing empathy and patience towards other community members

There is no place in iPres for overt or indirect harassment, disrespect or intimidation of any kind, but especially that based on race, class, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, language, national origin, physical or cognitive ability, age, appearance, level of knowledge, technical capability and/or other group status.

Harassment includes a wide range of behaviors, online as well as in person, that intimidates or threatens another person or group of persons or impinges on their ability to participate comfortably, fully, and productively in the experience.

Examples of harassment and unwelcome behavior include but are not limited to:

repeated misgendering or disregarding preferred pronouns
stalking or repeated following inappropriate photography or recording
sustained or repeated disruption of talks or other events
inappropriate physical contact and sexual attention
sexist, racist, discriminatory, or exclusionary jokes violent threats or language directed against another person
personal insults
propagation of implicit and explicit stereotypes advocating for, or encouraging, any of the above behavior

Response Framework

How to Report an Incident
If someone makes you or anyone else participating in the iPres conference feel unsafe or unwelcome, please report it to an event organizer as soon as possible. The contact information for the organizers is available here.

For those attending in-person, organizers will be identifiable by a labeled badge and will be available throughout the conference and at the main Registration Desk. For those attending online, organizers will include a label identifying them as such beside their name in the online platform (i.e., Sarah Middleton, iPres 2022 Organizer). A member of the organizing committee will be assigned as a designated responder for every session/event to assist in responding if an incident occurs or an issue arises.

Issues may also be raised by email to ipres2022@in-conference.org.uk or by messages to the @ipres2022 Twitter account and we will respond to those as soon as we can.

Suggested Information for Reporting
When reporting an incident, the information below may be helpful to include but is not required:

What happened, where, and when, including any supporting information you may have
Who was involved
What you would like to see happen, including follow-up from the Organizing team
Any members of the Organizing team you’d like to not be involved with your report
Your contact information (if you’d like to be notified of follow up/resolution)

What You Can Do As An Active Bystander
If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns during the conference, please notify the organizers or event staff as soon as possible. All iPres community members can help prevent or stop harassment. If you feel safe and empowered to intervene as an active bystander, please do so. Some tactics include calling out negative behavior in the moment and distracting or redirecting the situation. For more information, see https://www.breakingthesilence.cam.ac.uk/prevention-support/be-active-bystander.

How Organizers Will Respond
Once notified of harassing behavior, the organizers will initiate action in response. All incidents will be handled on a case-by-case basis, using a thoughtful approach. Participants who are asked by anyone to stop any harassing or disrespectful behavior are expected to comply immediately.

Sanctions may include, but are not limited to, warning the offender, withdrawing the offender’s position on the program, requiring the offender to leave the session in which the harassment takes place, immediate expulsion from the event, and if needed, reporting the offender to legal authorities.

Issues requiring discussion with the complainant before agreeing to a response will be dealt with sensitively in a private space and the complainant made aware of how the organizers wish to respond.

The Organizing team will log incident details in confidential records and only shared with those who “need to know”. This record keeping must comply with all pertinent legal and ethical requirements regarding personal privacy in the applicable jurisdiction.

What iPres Commits To
Support for victims of negative attention or harassment is always the first priority of the Organizing team. Important contact information is provided through the conference app. All issues will be dealt with in an efficient, sympathetic, and confidential manner.

Retaliation in any form against anyone reporting an incident of harassment, independent of the outcome, will not be tolerated.

As required, we can help you contact hotel or venue security, local law enforcement, or other local support services, provide escorts or supporters, or otherwise assist you to feel safe for the duration of the event. We value your attendance and participation.

How Organizers Will Respond
Once notified of harassing behavior, the organizers will initiate action in response. All incidents will be handled on a case-by-case basis, using a thoughtful approach. Participants who are asked by anyone to stop any harassing or disrespectful behavior are expected to comply immediately.

Sanctions may include, but are not limited to, warning the offender, withdrawing the offender’s position on the program, requiring the offender to leave the session in which the harassment takes place, immediate expulsion from the event, and if needed, reporting the offender to legal authorities.

Issues requiring discussion with the complainant before agreeing to a response will be dealt with sensitively in a private space and the complainant made aware of how the organizers wish to respond.

The Organizing team will log incident details in confidential records and only shared with those who “need to know”. This record keeping must comply with all pertinent legal and ethical requirements regarding personal privacy in the applicable jurisdiction.

What iPres Commits To
Support for victims of negative attention or harassment is always the first priority of the Organizing team. All issues will be dealt with in an efficient, sympathetic, and confidential manner.

Retaliation in any form against anyone reporting an incident of harassment, independent of the outcome, will not be tolerated.

As required, we can help you contact hotel or venue security, local law enforcement, or other local support services, provide escorts or supporters, or otherwise assist you to feel safe for the duration of the event. We value your attendance and participation.

Important contact information:
Contact information (e.g., email addresses, texting info, social media handles) for these and possibly other primary contacts will be made available to attendees (in-person and virtual) through the conference app and on the website:

Contact info for organizing team members
Local taxi and ride companies
Conference hotels
Conference venues
Local sexual assault / crisis line
Local police department

Resources
The iPres Code of Conduct and Response Framework was informed by these community resources and exemplars:

Accessibility
The DPC is committed to enabling access and participation to the iPRES2022 conference for all community members.

To this end, we will:

Ask for accessibility requirements as part of event registrations and take appropriate steps to ensure those requirements are met.
Engage different groups within the digital preservation community by ensuring communications are directed appropriately, and by providing a program which caters for participants in all time-zones with plenty of breaks, provides orientation events for first time attendees, and offers discussion spaces for language communities.
Accommodate different ways of working by offering both online and in-person participation and support good mental health by providing quiet spaces for decompression and reflection within the venue.
Support different physical abilities and disabilities through the accessibility functions of our venue which offers hearing loops, space for delegates accompanied by an attendant and level access to conference spaces and toilets, by offering closed captions in English for online sessions, and by making available recordings of all paper sessions alongside transcripts of our keynote sessions after the event.
Cater for attendee dietary requirements as required.
Provide flexibility for attendees who have other commitments such as childcare.

Accessibility

The DPC is committed to enabling access and participation to the iPres 2022 conference for all community members.

To this end, we will:

Ask for accessibility requirements as part of event registrations and take appropriate steps to ensure those requirements are met.
Engage different groups within the digital preservation community by ensuring communications are directed appropriately, and by providing a program which caters for participants in all time-zones with plenty of breaks, provides orientation events for first time attendees, and offers discussion spaces for language communities.
Accommodate different ways of working by offering both online and in-person participation and support good mental health by providing quiet spaces for decompression and reflection within the venue.
Support different physical abilities and disabilities through the accessibility functions of our venue which offers hearing loops, space for delegates accompanied by an attendant and level access to conference spaces and toilets, by offering closed captions in English for online sessions, and by making available recordings of all paper sessions alongside transcripts of our keynote sessions after the event.
Cater for attendee dietary requirements as required.
Provide flexibility for attendees who have other commitments such as childcare.