Tell your most inspiring stories with

Legacy Lab

Join our four-week guided archiving course and learning community to complete a beginner-friendly legacy project of your own design on Permanent.org.


Sign up for Legacy Lab

What to Expect From The Legacy Lab

What

This four-week course provides guidance on digital archiving through instructional videos, daily emails with short tasks, and peer support. Participants will work towards creating an archive of their own by the end of the course.

Who

Our knowledgeable staff have designed this program with you, our members, in mind. The Legacy Lab is beginner-friendly and offers a clear path to success for newcomers to digital archiving on Permanent. It is also appropriately paced and structured for more intermediate digital archivists who want to deepen their knowledge.

Why

Permanent’s mission is to preserve the digital legacies of all people, and we recognize not everyone has had the opportunity to do that on their own terms. Legacy Lab is a pay-what-you-can, donation-based program in order to keep it accessible to all people and give more folks the opportunity to tell their stories.

When

The Legacy Lab is offered twice a year.

October 7, 2024

March 3, 2025

Course Structure and Support

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Detailed Video Lessons

Each week, you’ll receive a recorded lesson covering the week’s theme and demonstrating relevant features in the Permanent app.
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Daily Emails & Tasks

We’ve broken up the digital archiving process into bite-sized chunks to keep your workload manageable.
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Live Video Calls

We’ll meet weekly to share progress, answer questions, and provide additional resources to help you complete your project.
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Peer Support Group

When you join the Legacy Lab, you have the option of joining a private Facebook group with former and current students.

Weekly Topics


Week 1

Orientation to Permanent and Legacy Lab

Learn the basics of the Permanent web application and set yourself up for success.

Week 2

Telling a Story and Curating Materials

Decide which story you’ll tell and gather all the supporting materials you’ll need.

Week 3

Digitizing and Organizing
on Permanent

Learn about digitization options and tools, creating metadata, and basic organization for digital archives.

Week 4

Enhancing Your
New Archive

Get more familiar with metadata features, publishing, collaborating, and future-proofing your archive.

What Our Graduates Are Saying

Glenn and his wife

"Thanks to Legacy Lab for such a great education. I was lost before, and now I've learned how to use your powerful tools!"

Glenn W.

Kristin and her husband dining at a marina restaurant

"I've enjoyed working on the project and seeing others' projects. Seeing them has given me many ideas."

Kristin B.

Ann

“My grandad died when I was two so I don't really remember him. The Legacy Lab has given me an opportunity to connect with him again through building his archive.”

Ann L.

Sign Up for Legacy Lab

The Legacy Lab is a pay-what-you-can, donation-based program, making it accessible to everyone. Donations are optional and we warmly welcome all participants. Please consider contributing to help cover the true cost ($30 per person) of this educational offering.
Please note that when you donate at or above the Sponsor level, you are helping to cover the cost of someone who is unable to donate. Thank you for supporting our non-profit mission and values.