TCDL 2026

The check-in and information table is open all day.

Designated quiet room for day 1.

Food is allowed in the classroom. Please be considerate of fellow attendees and keep noise to a minimum. Meetings are not allowed in this space. If you have any concerns, please visit the Check-in table.

Description: Digital preservation work increasingly takes place under conditions of uncertainty: shifting funding landscapes, evolving systems, unclear authority, and emotional strain. While technical assessment frameworks help institutions evaluate infrastructure and workflows, they rarely address the human experience of stewardship work—confidence, safety, belonging, and sustainability.

This interactive workshop introduces and applies Navigating Uncertainty, a human-centered reflection and assessment framework developed by the Digital POWRR team through the Digital POWRR Peer Assessment Program. Participants will actively complete the framework for their own professional context and engage in structured peer dialogue using guided reflection prompts.

Rather than producing a formal assessment outcome, the workshop emphasizes learning through reflection and conversation. Participants are invited to surface insights, clarify next steps, and reconnect with a sense of agency and community, highlighting how shared understanding and connection can be sources of joy even amid uncertainty.

Learning Objectives/Outcomes: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:
Describe the purpose and structure of the Navigating Uncertainty framework
Apply the framework to reflect on their own position across multiple domains of digital preservation work

Use structured reflection prompts to support meaningful peer conversation
Distinguish between individual challenges and structural or institutional constraints
Identify forms of scaffolding, support, or practice that could improve sustainability
Reflect on how peer connection and shared language can foster resilience and professional joy.

Target audience: This workshop is intended for:
Digital librarians, archivists, curators, and repository managers
Practitioners working in small, mid-sized, or under-resourced institutions
Individuals navigating ambiguity around staffing, systems, authority, or funding

Prerequisite knowledge: General familiarity with digital collections or digital preservation work. No prior experience with Digital POWRR or assessment frameworks is required.
Experience level: Beginner to intermediate (advanced practitioners welcome as well!)

Time Expectation: 2 hours

Tech Requirements:
Participants bring a laptop, tablet, or use provided paper copies of the framework

Proposed Agenda / Outline
0:00–0:15 | Welcome & Context Setting
Introductions and workshop goals
Brief overview of POWRR and the Peer Assessment Program
Why the Navigating Uncertainty framework was developed
Connecting uncertainty, sustainability, and joy

0:15–0:30 | Framework Walkthrough
Overview of the six domains and navigational levels
Guidance on using the framework as a compass rather than a checklist
Emphasis on non-linearity and self-compassion

0:30–0:55 | Individual Assessment
Participants complete the Navigating Uncertainty framework for their own context
Focus on 2–3 domains most relevant to their current work
Facilitators circulate to answer questions

0:55–1:30 | Peer Reflection (Pairs or Triads)
Structured dialogue using selected reflection prompts
Emphasis on listening, resonance, and shared learning
No expectation to “solve” problems or disclose sensitive details

1:30–1:50 | Group Synthesis & Shared Themes
Voluntary sharing of patterns, insights, or surprises
Reflection on how peer conversation shaped understanding
Optional sharing of practices, resources, or forms of support that participants have found helpful in building resilience or sustaining their work
Discussion of where participants found clarity, validation, or renewed energy

1:50–2:00 | Closing & Feedback
Brief introduction of an optional, anonymous feedback worksheet
Participants invited to share feedback focused primarily on the Navigating Uncertainty framework, with light reflection on the workshop format

Final takeaways and next steps
Note on Feedback and Learning: As Navigating Uncertainty is a new and evolving framework, this workshop also serves as an opportunity for the POWRR team to learn how the tool functions in a live group setting. Participants will be invited to complete a short, optional, anonymous worksheet focused primarily on feedback about the assessment instrument: its usefulness, clarity, and potential applications in different contexts. No individual assessments will be collected.

Lunch on your own. TCDL will not be providing lunch on day 1. The Commons Cafe is open from 7:30 am – 2 pm and is located within the venue. Other nearby meal options can be found on the TCDL Local Resources page.

The Opening Plenary session includes a welcome from TDL’s Governing Board, the TDL Awards Ceremony, and the Keynote Address by Jessie Contour and Kelcey Gray.

Keynote Title: Illuminating Dropcaps: The Magic of the Collaborative Process
Keynote Description: Keynote speakers Jessie Contour and Kelcey Gray are serious about play. Last year, the two associate professors of Arts and Entertainment Technologies (AET) and Design, respectively, published a Medieval-themed word game about spelling and strategy called Dropcaps.
In their keynote address, Illuminating Dropcaps: The Magic of the Collaborative Process, Contour and Gray will address topics like persuasive prototyping, the magic found in archives, when to use (and not use) AI, how to start, maintain, find joy, and execute a multi-year project, and how their cross-departmental collaboration sparked the development of a UT course that bridges two creative communities.

TCDL will provide beverage service.

Poster Pitch! is an energetic and fun session for all. Each presenter will be allotted up to 1 minute to pitch their poster to the audience and at least 10 minutes for Q&A will be allotted at the end of the session. Sponsors are also welcome to present.

Read the abstracts for each poster.

After sessions end on Tuesday, June 2, a reception will be held in the Atrium. Beverages (water, soda, and an open bar) and appetizers will be served. Posters will be on display for discussion and attendees may participate in the scavenger hunt for a chance to win a prize. Poster presenters and sponsors are not eligible to participate in the scavenger hunt.