The Great Digital Preservation Bake Off is iPRES’s most deliciously unique event: a live tool demonstration session where no actual baking occurs, but plenty of digital preservation magic happens. Picture a friendly, fast-paced showcase where developers, vendors, and practitioners take the stage to demonstrate their preservation tools in action. No slides allowed, just live demos using real data. Whether it’s a small script that solves a tricky metadata problem or a full preservation system that tackles complex workflows, every “baker” has a limited amount of time to demonstrate what their tool can do. The atmosphere is light-hearted and supportive (baking puns are strongly encouraged), and the community embraces both spectacular successes and the occasional technical hiccup as part of the fun.
Last year’s Bake Off featured two delicious tracks: one for practitioners showcasing small, focused tools, and one for service providers demonstrating single features from their platforms. All demonstrations use files from the iPRES Pantry: a community-curated collection of test data ranging from everyday office documents to exotic file formats that make preservation tools sweat. Participants vote for their favorite demos, and winners receive coveted prizes. Whether you’re a seasoned preservation pro or new to the field, the Bake Off offers an entertaining, informative peek at the tools shaping our community’s future, served with a generous helping of humor and camaraderie.
