preserving and sharing digital data greg colati, director, archives and special collections may 11,...

Preserving and Sharing Digital Data

Greg Colati, Director, Archives and Special Collections

May 11, 2012

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The Problem with Digital Assets

Silos Separate technical systems, metadata, and

organizational schemes Difficult to repurpose or share

Duplication Same data in different systems out of

synchronization Duplicative but not redundant storage

Risk: No accurate way to understand and manage the

scope and volume of digital assets No way to insure long-term availability

How Do We Manage Digital Assets?

3 http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/curation-lifecycle-model

Digital curation in a managed environment

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How Do We Share Digital Assets? EASY is not an attribute! Multiple audiences, casual to serious Multiple interests Multiple levels of sophistication Multiple needs

No ONE delivery system can provide for all potential uses

What We Didn’t Want:

An “integrated” solutionAnother information silo

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What We Needed: A Flexible Digital Repository Service

Preservation-oriented, trustworthy digital repository Centrally managed Supports long term management of digital assets

Set of services that support current and future needs Open APIs for local development Management tools Presentation tools

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Repository Attributes

1. Simple and complex digital objects and relationships

2. Schema agnostic: any metadata schema allowed

3. File format agnostic: any file types allowed4. Normalization for all metadata and supported

content file types5. Global, persistent identifiers6. Rules-based access and management7. Flexible presentation options

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What We Needed…

Independent, self-describing objects existing in a managed system with No particular administrative workflow or end-user

application No particular catalog or organizational model

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What We Chose

Flexible Extensible Digital Object Repository Architecture

(Fedora)

http://fedoracommons.org/

What Fedora is Not

NOT a relational databaseNOT a software applicationNOT an integrated solutionNOT an information silo

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Fedora is…

A generic foundation upon which many kinds of applications can be created.

A conceptual framework about digital information and relationships

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Repository-based Activities

Repository (Preservation) Layer

Management Layer

Presentation (Access) LayerAccess, Discovery, Authentication, Authorization

Curation Activities; Administrative, Descriptive, Technical, Rights, etc., Metadata Mgmt.

Information UniverseRe-use and exchange

Policies, Controls, Preservation Activities

Dig

ital

Obje

cts

Meta

data

Fedora

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Current Project Calendar

Phase I: Establish and implement core functions (July, 2012)

Phase II: Advanced tools and services, develop storage and hardware requirements for production system (January, 2013)

Phase III: Implementation of v1.0 production release for UConn content. (July, 2013)

Extending the Model:A Statewide Repository Service

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Repository Organization

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Management Layer

Presentation (Access) Layer

Information UniverseRe-use and exchange D

igita

l O

bje

cts

Meta

data

Management: UConn

UConn

Partner Framework

Repository (Preservation) LayerPolicies, Controls, Preservation Activities UConn Repository

Partner Others…

External aggregators and direct links

Management: OthersManagement: Partner

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Durable Content, Shareable Data

Data Center Data

UConn Data

Cultural Heritage

Data

Other Digital Data

State Pubs/archive

s

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Pay for Services/Storage …Cost-recovery on an as-yet-to-be-determined model. Potential approaches include: Membership ($/year based on a formula) Subscription ($/GB/year) POSF (Pay Once Store Forever)

Other approaches or a combination of approaches are possible.

Sustainability Model (In Development)

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Governance Model (In Development)…Volunteer your time Advisory Committee made up of participating

organizations Reviews development plan for infrastructure and

services Suggests funding opportunities Creates working groups for specific areas and tasks

SLAs created between the repository and UConn units document rights and responsibilities.

MOUs created between UConn and participating organizations document ownership, rights, and responsibilities.

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Challenges Ahead Secure development funding for statewide

services Find partner institutions Current partners include:

UConn State Library State Data Center (MAGIC) Connecticut History Online (CHO)

Develop a sustainable governance and funding model

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Interested?

Greg ColatiDirector, Archives and Special Collections

gregory.colati@uconn.edu860-486-4501

Trylon and Perisphere graphic from the Hagley Library and Museum http://www.hagley.org/hagley-wf-02-rgb.jpg