The Software Preservation Network (SPN) is a cross-sector, member-driven community committed to making software preservation a core component of digital preservation and cultural memory work.
From video games and digital art to research tools, scientific models, and legacy file formats, software is what enables the interpretation, use, and preservation of born-digital content. It is not just a tool—it is an essential layer of meaning and function embedded within the materials cultural and academic institutions are charged with stewarding.
By convening practitioners, researchers, technologists, policy experts, and memory workers, SPN builds field-wide infrastructure, cultivates collective expertise, and amplifies efforts that enable a more equitable digital future.
Stay connected with the SPN Community Calendar
Whether you’re a member, or just getting to know us, this is your hub for upcoming meetings, events, and shared learning opportunities.
Featured Posts
- New Publication Release: Software Metadata Recommended Format (SMRF) Guide, Version 1.1.0
- Video Game History Foundation and SPN release Survey of the Video Game Reissue Market in the United States
- SPN and Library Copyright Alliance Petition for Updated DMCA Rules to Expand Access to Preserved Software
- More News →
SPN’s Working Groups are where collective action takes root
These groups operate semi-autonomously, driving the network’s research, publications, advocacy, and tool development. Through shared governance and mutual accountability, working groups ensure SPN remains grounded in practice while building toward systemic change.
Metadata
Works to ensure that cultural memory institutions and related entities can find, share, and reuse software through developing local metadata strategies.
Law & Policy
Creates the policy conditions necessary for the long-term preservation of software, particularly focusing on historical, legacy, and culturally significant software.
Tech Infrastructure
Addresses the technological challenges facing software preservation.
Research-in-Practice
Strives to analyze the wide world of software preservation and generate insights that help individuals and institutions practice software preservation.
Community Engagement Collaborative
Fosters an inclusive and vibrant community for SPN members and the broader software preservation sector
EAASI Research Alliance
EAASI (Emulation-as-a-Service Infrastructure) is open-source software that enables libraries, archives, and museums to provide browser-based access to emulated digital collections for students, faculty, researchers, and staff—supporting interactive, controlled access to digital cultural heritage by making emulation easier.
The international EAASI Research Alliance, convened by the Software Preservation Network, is a multinational community of libraries, archives, and museums that utilize the EAASI software to broaden access to digital collections of culture and scholarship. Learn more about EAASI →
Members
Are you an organization from industry, academia, government, cultural heritage, and the public sphere and want to contribute to this work? Join the Software Preservation Network!
Whether you’re just beginning or deep into your preservation journey, SPN invites your collaboration.