Purpose
When looking for a migration, archives are too often held hostage by opaque export processes, hidden fees, and misaligned formats that break metadata links and lose PREMIS event trails. Every migration becomes a ticket queue, format-mapping nightmare, and cleanup sprint. In this BoF, we’ll create a trusting space for practitioners to air real-world frustrations with vendor-mediated exports and explore how true self-service access—whether via the platform UI or direct storage-layer retrieval—reclaims control of raw bitstreams, full metadata, and open-format exports exactly as you organized them.

What to Expect
In this session we’ll gather in a round-table format—no slides or pre-set agenda—to share stories of ticket queues, “export.zip” surprises, and costly cleanup efforts. Together, we’ll map out architecture patterns and governance models that enable on-demand, transparent retrieval, and jointly draft a community checklist of best practices for UI-based and storage-layer access. Come ready to exchange hard-won lessons, co-create practical guidance, and leave with a roadmap for building archives that truly belong to you.