Category: Digital Curation & Digital Preservation

"Using Linked Data for Discovery and Preservation"

Sayeed Choudhury has published "Using Linked Data for Discovery and Preservation" in EDUCAUSE Review.

Here's an excerpt:

Linked data has been discussed since the beginning of the World Wide Web 30 years ago (i.e., the so-called semantic web). For something potentially so important, this begs the question: Why hasn't linked data more directly affected galleries, libraries, archives, and museums (aka GLAM)?

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What to Keep: A Jisc Research Data Study

Jisc has released What to Keep: A Jisc Research Data Study.

Here's an excerpt:

What to keep in terms of research data has been a recognised issue for some time but research data management and in particular appraisal and selection (i.e. 'what to keep and why') has become a more significant focus in recent years as volumes and diversity of data have grown, and as the available infrastructure for 'keeping' has become more diverse.

The purpose of the What to Keep study is to provide new insights that will be useful to institutions, research funders, researchers, publishers, and Jisc on what research data to keep and why, the current position, and suggestions for improvement.

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"Data Management Practices in Academic Library Learning Analytics: A Critical Review"

Kristin A. Briney has published "Data Management Practices in Academic Library Learning Analytics: A Critical Review" in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication.

Here's an excerpt:

INTRODUCTION Data handling in library learning analytics plays a pivotal role in protecting patron privacy, yet the landscape of data management by librarians is poorly understood. METHODS This critical review examines data-handling practices from 54 learning analytics studies in academic libraries and compares them against the NISO Consensus Principles on User’s Digital Privacy in Library, Publisher, and Software-Provider Systems and data management best practices. RESULTS A number of the published research projects demonstrate inadequate data protection practices including incomplete anonymization, prolonged data retention, collection of a broad scope of sensitive information, lack of informed consent, and sharing of patron-identified information. DISCUSSION As with researchers more generally, libraries should improve their data management practices. No studies aligned with the NISO Principles in all evaluated areas, but several studies provide specific exemplars of good practice. CONCLUSION Libraries can better protect patron privacy by improving data management practices in learning analytics research.

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"Access, Preservation And Analysis in a Consortial Journal Archive: The Evolution of Scholars Portal Journals"

Sabina Pagotto and Wei Zhao have published "Access, Preservation And Analysis in a Consortial Journal Archive: The Evolution of Scholars Portal Journals" in Insights.

Here's an excerpt:

This article discusses Scholars Portal Journals (SP Journals), a library consortium-run platform that aggregates and archives licensed scholarly journal content in the province of Ontario, Canada. Born in the early days of e-journals out of a need to provide consistent and long-term access to scholarly materials in the sometimes volatile world of online publishing, SP Journals has evolved into a major digital repository and archive. With over 55 million full-text articles and serving a student population of just under half a million, SP Journals represents a major investment in access to online scholarship. This article explains the lifecycle of content on the platform, from initial publisher negotiations to delivering usage reports, and discusses considerations of running a locally hosted journal platform.

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"Never Best Practices: Born-Digital Audiovisual Preservation"

Julia Kim, Rebecca Fraimow and Erica Titkemeyer have published "Never Best Practices: Born-Digital Audiovisual Preservation" in Code4Lib Journal.

Here's an excerpt:

The sheer conditionality of [born-digital audiovisual file preservation] recommendations leaves practitioners mired in a sea of questions as they struggle to set realistically adhered to policies for their institutions. Should files be accepted as-is, or transcoded to an open and standardized format? When is transcoding to a preservation file specification worth the extra storage space and staff time? If transcoding, what are the ideal target specifications? When developing policies and workflows for batch transcoding a variety of different formats, each with different technical specifications, how do you make sure that preservation files maintain all the perceptible, let alone "significant" characteristics of the original files?

This paper presents case studies from three institutions—a university special collections library, a federal government department, and a public broadcasting station—demonstrating how the factors listed above might lead to 'tiered' processing and decision-making around 'good enough' practices for the preservation of born-digital a/v files.

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"Could Collaborative Research between Two Major Libraries Help Consolidate Digital Preservation and Break the ‘Project Cycle’?"

Somaya Langley et al. have self-archived "Could Collaborative Research between Two Major Libraries Help Consolidate Digital Preservation and Break the 'Project Cycle'?."

Here's an excerpt:

An ongoing challenge for Bodleian Libraries (of Oxford University) and Cambridge University Library (CUL) has been taking outputs from time-bound digital preservation projects and turning them into ongoing uninterrupted services. . . . The Digital Preservation at Oxford and Cambridge (DPOC) project (2016–2018) is a collaboration between Bodleian Libraries and CUL which is supported and funded by The Polonsky Foundation. Bodleian Libraries and CUL have historically strong ties, and have previously collaborated on digital preservation projects. Both organizations also have experience creating digital preservation resources, for which stewardship at the end of projects has been transferred over to staff within the libraries for maintenance. However, siloed preservation activities have so far not translated into institution-wide, ongoing programmatic digital preservation activities.

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"Expanding the Research Data Management Service Portfolio at Bielefeld University According to the Three-pillar Principle Towards Data FAIRness"

Jochen Schirrwagen et al. have published "Expanding the Research Data Management Service Portfolio at Bielefeld University According to the Three-pillar Principle Towards Data FAIRness" in Data Science Journal (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License).

Here's an excerpt:

Research Data Management at Bielefeld University is considered as a cross-cutting task among central facilities and research groups at the faculties. While initially started as project “Bielefeld Data Informium” lasting over seven years (2010–2015), it is now being expanded by setting up a Competence Center for Research Data. The evolution of the institutional RDM is based on the three-pillar principle: 1. Policies, 2. Technical infrastructure and 3. Support structures. The problem of data quality and the issues with reproducibility of research data is addressed in the project Conquaire. It is creating an infrastructure for the processing and versioning of research data which will finally allow publishing of research data in the institutional repository. Conquaire extends the existing RDM infrastructure in three ways: with a Collaborative Platform, Data Quality Checking, and Reproducible Research.

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"LOCKSS Networks: Community-Based Digital Preservation"

Aaron Trehub et al. have self-archived "LOCKSS Networks: Community-Based Digital Preservation."

Here's an excerpt:

Starting with the first Community LOCKSS Network—the MetaArchive Cooperative, in 2004—CLNs have spread throughout the United States, Canada, Latin America, and Europe. . . . . The authors examine five geographically and administratively diverse CLNs: the MetaArchive Cooperative, an international PLN with members in the United States, Brazil, and Spain; the Alabama Digital Preservation Network (ADPNet), a statewide PLN serving a diverse set of institutions in an economically challenged state; the Council of Prairie and Pacific University Libraries (COPPUL) WestVault CLN, a network serving academic libraries in western Canada; the Public Knowledge Project Preservation Network (PKP-PN), a network for preserving content from Open Journal Systems (OJS) journals; and the Indiana Digital Preservation (InDiPres) CLN, a new statewide collaborative within the MetaArchive Cooperative.

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"Announcing Publication of NDSA’s 2017 Web Archiving Survey Report"

The National Digital Stewardship Alliance has released "Announcing Publication of NDSA's 2017 Web Archiving Survey Report."

Here's an excerpt:

The National Digital Stewardship Alliance is pleased to announce the release of the 2017 Web Archiving Survey Report. . . .

The goal of these surveys is to better understand the landscape of Web archiving activities in the United States by investigating the organizations involved; the history and scope of their Web archiving programs; the types of Web content being preserved; the tools and services being used; access and discovery services being offered; and overall policies related to Web archiving programs.

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A Preservationist’s Guide to the DCMA Exemption for Software Preservation

The Software Preservation Network and the Cyberlaw Clinic have released "A Preservationist's Guide to the DCMA Exemption for Software Preservation."

Here's an excerpt:

The Library of Congress recently adopted several exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provision prohibiting circumvention of technological measures that control access to copyrighted works. The exemptions went into effect on October 28, 2018 and last until October 28th, 2021. This guide is intended to help preservationists determine whether their activities fall under the new exemption.

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Digital Preservation Network Shuts Down: "Community Announcement—DPN Sunsets"

The Digital Preservation Network has released "Community Announcement—DPN Sunsets."

Here's an excerpt:

After careful analysis of the Digital Preservation Network's membership, operating model, and finances, the Board of Trustees of DPN passed a resolution to affect an orderly wind-down of DPN. The DPN Board carefully considered potential changes to DPN’s current preservation and membership models and determined that it is not feasible to design and implement changes that would ensure sustainability.

The Digital Preservation Network has provided innovative digital preservation services and leadership to the cultural heritage community for the past six years.  At its largest, DPN had 62 members and deposits from 27 institutions. However, membership has fallen to 31, a number insufficient to maintain the organization. The landscape of digital preservation services has changed considerably in the past six years, as have the community's preservation needs. . . .

It is clear that there are numerous unforeseen challenges with our community-based organizations that need to be addressed. A number of organizations formed by our community are facing sustainability challenges, despite initial momentum. The DPN board and staff hope that the community enters into conversations that may help other organizations in the challenge of sustainability.

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"OCLC Research and euroCRIS Release Report on International Research Information Management Practices"

OCLC Research has released "OCLC Research and euroCRIS Release Report on International Research Information Management Practices."

Here's an excerpt:

OCLC Research and euroCRIS, the international organization for research information, have published a joint research report, Practices and Patterns in Research Information Management: Findings from a Global Survey, which examines how research institutions worldwide are applying research information management (RIM) practices.

The report, written by a working group comprised of experts from both organizations, details the complexity of research information management practices. It examines how commercial and open-source platforms are becoming widely implemented across regions, coexisting with many region-specific solutions as well as locally developed systems. It also considers the factors that have led to the need for complex, cross-stakeholder teams to support institutional RIM activities, which increasingly includes the library.

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"Digital Data Archives as Knowledge Infrastructures: Mediating Data Sharing and Reuse"

Christine L. Borgman et al. have self-archived "Digital Data Archives as Knowledge Infrastructures: Mediating Data Sharing and Reuse."

Here's an excerpt:

Digital archives are the preferred means for open access to research data. They play essential roles in knowledge infrastructures—robust networks of people, artifacts, and institutions—but little is known about how they mediate information exchange between stakeholders. We open the "black box" of data archives by studying DANS, the Data Archiving and Networked Services institute of The Netherlands, which manages 50+ years of data from the social sciences, humanities, and other domains. Our interviews, weblogs, ethnography, and document analyses reveal that a few large contributors provide a steady flow of content, but most are academic researchers who submit datasets infrequently and often restrict access to their files. Consumers are a diverse group that overlaps minimally with contributors. Archivists devote about half their time to aiding contributors with curation processes and half to assisting consumers. Given the diversity and infrequency of usage, human assistance in curation and search remains essential. DANS' knowledge infrastructure encompasses public and private stakeholders who contribute, consume, harvest, and serve their data—many of whom did not exist at the time the DANS collections originated—reinforcing the need for continuous investment in digital data archives as their communities, technologies, and services evolve.

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"CLOCKSS Formalizes Long-Standing Commitments from Four Leading Universities to Ensure Perpetual Preservation"

CLOCKSS has released "CLOCKSS Formalizes Long-Standing Commitments from Four Leading Universities to Ensure Perpetual Preservation."

Here's an excerpt:

Four of CLOCKSS's twelve library nodes have agreed to continue to preserve the digital content that is preserved in CLOCKSS, if the organization were to cease to exist. In that unlikely event, Stanford Libraries (U.S.), Humboldt University (Germany), the University of Edinburgh (U.K.), and the University of Alberta Libraries (Canada) would take over the responsibility and the organization for running the LOCKSS software across the CLOCKSS content, to continue preservation for the future.

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"Software Curation in Research Libraries: Practice and Promise"

Alexandra Chassanoff et al. have published "Software Curation in Research Libraries: Practice and Promise" in the Journal of Librarianship and Scholarly Communication.

Here's an excerpt:

INTRODUCTION Research software plays an increasingly vital role in the scholarly record. Academic research libraries are in the early stages of exploring strategies for curating and preserving research software, aiming to facilitate support and services for long-term access and use. DESCRIPTION OF PROGRAM In 2016, the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR) began offering postdoctoral fellowships in software curation. Four institutions hosted the initial cohort of software curation fellows. This article describes the work activities and research program of the cohort, highlighting the challenges and benefits of doing this exploratory work in research libraries. NEXT STEPS Academic research libraries are poised to play an important role in research and development around robust services for software curation. The next cohort of CLIR fellows is set to begin in fall 2018 and will likely shape and contribute substantially to an emergent research agenda.

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State Archiving in the Digital Era: A Playbook for the Preservation of Electronic Records

The National Association of State Chief Information Officers and the Council of State Archivists have released the State Archiving in the Digital Era: A Playbook for the Preservation of Electronic Records .

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Many states are finding that they are unprepared to deal with the unique management and preservation issues that are related to digital archives. NASCIO, along with CoSA created this playbook for the preservation of state electronic records. This document includes eleven plays that state officials should consider when working together toward the preservation of digital archives.

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"The Cost of Keeping It: Towards Effective Cost-Modeling for Digital Preservation at the University of Maryland"

Kate Dohe and David Durden have self-archived "The Cost of Keeping It: Towards Effective Cost-Modeling for Digital Preservation at the University of Maryland."

Here's an excerpt:

In our library, we are in the early stages of developing a cost model for digital preservation systems loosely aligned to the costs of systems and activities within the NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation framework. This work is intended to articulate the ongoing costs of desirable and essential digital curation activities to digital project stakeholders, as well as administrators–with the ultimate goal of sustainable funding for responsible digital preservation. Our "Digital Preservation Cost Calculator" has been successfully used to estimate project expenditures in preparation for grant applications and philanthropic financing requests. We are exploring prospective features that can transition this tool from a local budgeting tool to a full-fledged digital preservation application. This paper will introduce our use case and requirements, current development challenges, and propose a prospective roadmap and options for community engagement

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"Open Data, Grey Data, and Stewardship: Universities at the Privacy Frontier"

Christine L. Borgman has self-archived "Open Data, Grey Data, and Stewardship: Universities at the Privacy Frontier."

Here's an excerpt:

As universities recognize the inherent value in the data they collect and hold, they encounter unforeseen challenges in stewarding those data in ways that balance accountability, transparency, and protection of privacy, academic freedom, and intellectual property. Two parallel developments in academic data collection are converging: (1) open access requirements, whereby researchers must provide access to their data as a condition of obtaining grant funding or publishing results in journals; and (2) the vast accumulation of 'grey data' about individuals in their daily activities of research, teaching, learning, services, and administration. The boundaries between research and grey data are blurring, making it more difficult to assess the risks and responsibilities associated with any data collection. Many sets of data, both research and grey, fall outside privacy regulations such as HIPAA, FERPA, and PII. Universities are exploiting these data for research, learning analytics, faculty evaluation, strategic decisions, and other sensitive matters. Commercial entities are besieging universities with requests for access to data or for partnerships to mine them. The privacy frontier facing research universities spans open access practices, uses and misuses of data, public records requests, cyber risk, and curating data for privacy protection. This paper explores the competing values inherent in data stewardship and makes recommendations for practice, drawing on the pioneering work of the University of California in privacy and information security, data governance, and cyber risk.

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"Using ORCID, DOI, and Other Open Identifiers in Research Evaluation"

Laurel L. Haak et al. have published "Using ORCID, DOI, and Other Open Identifiers in Research Evaluation" in Frontiers in Research Metrics and Analytics.

Here's an excerpt:

We describe how identifiers, such as ORCID iDs and DOIs, are being embedded in research workflows across science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics; how this is affecting data availability for evaluation purposes: and provide examples of evaluations that are leveraging identifiers. We also discuss the importance of provenance and preservation in establishing confidence in the reliability and trustworthiness of data and relationships, and in the long-term availability of metadata describing objects and their inter-relationships.

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