DIGITAL CURATION

Dr. Carolyn Hankcarolyn.hank@mcgill.ca

School of Information Studies

McGill University

GLIS 639: Intro to Museology

28 January 2011

Image Credit: Tim Gough, New York Times, October 2, 2009 (All Rights Reserved).

Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/fashion/04curate.html

“ … the word archive has lost much of its traditional meaning and associations … archivists have literally lost control over the definition of archive.” (Hedstrom, 1991, p. 336)

“…despite the recent appropriation of „archive‟ as a verb to mean „store‟ or „to preserve,‟ the traditional meaning of archives as a noun is narrower.” (CLIR, 2001, p. 85)

“Traditionally, preservation and archiving have had two distinct definitions with preservation being a necessary component of, but not equivalent to, the totality of archiving.” (Tibbo, 2003, p. 11)

CURATE IS NOT ALONE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-2vv7Y6Rww

KEEPING UP WITH DATA ROT

DISCUSSION

DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) - Short/Medium

SHORT: “Digital preservation combines policies, strategies and actions that ensure access to digital content over time.”

MEDIUM: “Digital preservation combines policies, strategies and actions to ensure access to reformatted and born digital content regardless of the challenges of media failure and technological change. The goal of digital preservation is the accurate rendering of authenticated content over time.”

SOURCE: http://www.ala.org/ala/alcts/newslinks/digipres/index.cfm

DEFINITIONS

DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) – Long

“Digital preservation combines policies, strategies and actions to ensure the accurate rendering of authenticated content over time, regardless of the challenges of media failure and technological change. Digital preservation applies to both born digital and reformatted content.

Digital preservation policies document an organization’s commitment to preserve digital content for future use; specify file formats to be preserved and the level of preservation to be provided; and ensure compliance with standards and best practices for responsible stewardship of digital information.

Digital preservation strategies and actions address content creation, integrity and maintenance.”

DEFINITIONS

DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) – Long

CONTENT CREATION INCLUDES:

– Clear and complete technical specifications

– Production of reliable master files

– Sufficient descriptive, administrative and structural metadata to ensure future access

– Detailed quality control of processes

DEFINITIONS

DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) – Long

CONTENT INTEGRITY INCLUDES:

– Documentation of all policies, strategies and procedures

– Use of persistent identifiers

– Recorded provenance and change history for all objects

– Verification mechanisms

– Attention to security requirements

– Routine audits

DEFINITIONS

DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) – Long

CONTENT MAINTENANCE INCLUDES:

– A robust computing and networking infrastructure

– Storage and synchronization of files at multiple sites

– Continuous monitoring and management of files

– Programs for refreshing, migration and emulation

– Creation and testing of disaster prevention and recovery plans

– Periodic review and updating of policies and procedures

DEFINITIONS

Digital curation, broadly interpreted, is about maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of digital information for current and future use.

The active management and preservation of digital resources over the life-cycle of scholarly and scientific interest, and over time for current and future generations of users.

“What Is Digital Curation?”http://www.dcc.ac.uk/about/what/

DEFINITIONSDIGITAL CURATION (DCC)

Source: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/lifecycle-model/

–Creating durable digital objects–Hardware and software obsolescence–File formats–Rights management and other legal and ethical issues–Metadata (minimum/optimal/practical)–Appraisal and selection–Quality control and “trustworthiness”–Commitment to the long-term–Resource allocation, costing, and staffing–Funding for development and sustainability

WHY THIS MATTERSA SAMPLE OF SELECT ISSUES

Council on Library and Information Resources. (2001). The evidence in hand: Report of the Task Force on the Artifact in Library Collections. (CLIR Publication No. 103). Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub103/contents.html

Hedstrom, M. (1991). Understanding electronic incunabula: A framework for research on electronic records. American Archivist, 54(3), 334-354.

Tibbo, H.R. (2003). On the nature and importance of archiving in the digital age. In M. Zelkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Computers: Information Repositories, 57 (pp. 1-67). San Diego, CA: Elsevier.

REFERENCES

QUESTIONS?

Dr. Carolyn Hankcarolyn.hank@mcgill.ca

School of Information Studies

McGill University