Category: Digital Curation & Digital Preservation

JISC Digital Preservation Policies Study

JISC has released a two-part study of digital preservation policies: Digital Preservation Policies Study and Digital Preservation Policies Study, Part 2: Appendices—Mappings of Core University Strategies and Analysis of Their Links to Digital Preservation.

Here's an excerpt:

This JISC funded study aims to provide an outline model for digital preservation policies and to analyse the role that digital preservation can play in supporting and delivering key strategies for Higher and Further Education Institutions. Although focussing on the UK Higher and Further Education sectors, the study draws widely on policy and implementations from other sectors and countries and will be of interest to those wishing to develop policy and justify investment in digital preservation within a wide range of institutions. We have created two tools in this study: 1) a model/framework for digital preservation policy and implementation clauses based on examination of existing digital preservation policies; 2) a series of mappings of digital preservation links to other key institutional strategies in UK universities and colleges. Our aim has been to help institutions and their staff develop appropriate digital preservation policies and clauses set in the context of broader institutional strategies.

Presentations from Reinventing Science Librarianship: Models for the Future

Presentations (usually digital audio and PowerPoint slides) about data curation, e-science, virtual organizations and other topics from the ARL/CNI Fall Forum on Reinventing Science Librarianship: Models for the Future are now available.

Speakers included Sayeed Choudhury, Ron Larsen, Liz Lyon, Richard Luce, and others.

Long-Term Preservation: Results from a Survey Investigating Preservation Strategies amongst ALPSP Publisher Members

The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers has released Long-Term Preservation: Results from a Survey Investigating Preservation Strategies amongst ALPSP Publisher Members.

Here's an excerpt from the press release:

  • The majority of ALPSP publishers who responded to the survey believe long-term preservation to be a critical issue: 91% either agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "Long-term preservation is an issue which urgently needs to be addressed within the industry." 9% were neutral; no-one disagreed.
  • ALPSP publishers are strongly motivated to engage with preservation because of its critical importance to their customers, with over 90% of respondents citing this as a major motivating factor: a heartening response for those in the library community.
  • Although 68% of publishers reported understanding of preservation issues within their organisation to be either 'good' or 'reasonable', the survey also revealed a wide range of concerns suggesting an overall lack of confidence, at least for the present. The survey revealed a strong desire amongst almost all publishers for the development of 'best practice' and industry standards.
  • There is some confusion surrounding the nature and extent of publisher participation in long-term preservation schemes, with high numbers of respondents declaring their organisation to be participating in one or more initiatives and yet the schemes themselves reporting substantially lower numbers presently taking part.
  • Publisher views on who should take responsibility for long-term preservation also reveal some interesting contradictions: despite presently supporting a range of preservation schemes, a significant majority of publishers indicated they would in fact prefer other groups and institutions to take this responsibility on. National libraries in particular were a popular choice.
  • Finally, the survey revealed most publishers are clear about the distinction between ensuring long-term access and ensuring long-term preservation, with the majority believing they have clear responsibility for long-term access. A worryingly high number however admit to either not trusting their present strategy or not currently having any strategy to deliver here.

Open Access to and Reuse of Research Data—The State of the Art in Finland

The Finnish Social Science Data Archive has published Open Access to and Reuse of Research Data—The State of the Art in Finland.

Here's an excerpt:

In 2006, the Ministry of Education in Finland allocated resources to the Finnish Social Science Data Archive (FSD) to chart national and international practices related to open access to research data. Consequently, the FSD carried out an online survey targeting professors of human sciences, social sciences and behavioural sciences in Finnish universities. Some respondents were senior staff at research institutes. The respondents were asked about the state and use of data collected in their department/institute. Almost half of the respondents considered the preservation and use of digital research data to be relevant to their department. The number of respondents (150) is large enough to warrant statistical analysis even though response rate was low at 28%.

Funded: Towards Interoperable Preservation Repositories (TIPR): A Demonstration Project

The Florida Center for Library Automation has received a $392,649 grant (matching amount: $392,764) from the Institute of Museum and Library Services for a two-year project titled "Towards Interoperable Preservation Repositories (TIPR): A Demonstration Project." The Cornell University Library and the New York University Libraries are FCLA's grant partners.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

Practical repository-to-repository transfer requires agreed-upon transfer protocols, enhancements to repository software applications, and a common standards-based transfer format capable of transporting rich preservation metadata and associated digital objects. Building on prior work, this project will define a transfer format, modify three different open source repository applications to import and export information packages in this format, and test a carefully developed set of use cases to verify the usability and flexibility of the format.

DCC Methodology for Designing and Evaluating Curation and Preservation Experiments V1.0

The Digital Curation Centre has released DCC Methodology for Designing and Evaluating Curation and Preservation Experiments V1.0.

Here's an excerpt:

The purpose of this document is to describe a Digital Curation Centre (DCC) testbed methodology which will serve as a workflow framework for designing experiments to validate the effectiveness of curation and preservation strategies. The methodology is grounded in the following general principles: the methodology must

  • conform to the fundamental standards of a scientific methodology,
  • be easy to follow and implement, i.e. accommodate experimenters of all levels of technical expertise,
  • be general enough to accommodate future changes and the evolution of ideas in curation and
  • preservation theory and practice,
  • be specific enough to provide concrete guidance in the immediate short term,
  • be sufficiently flexible and extensible to allow for technological advances and the evolving
  • complexity of available resources

Repositories Support Project Launches RSP Blog Directory

The Repositories Support Project has launched the RSP Blog Directory.

Here's an excerpt from the announcement:

It provides a list of recommended and informative blogs regarding the repository scene from around the globe. Listed blogs include personal creations from those with first hand experience of repository management and/or technical development of repository software; blogs for specific repositories, projects and software developers; as well as blogs for groups and societies with an interest in the open access movement and digital curation.

Presentations/Reports from the JISC/CNI Meeting on Transforming the User Experience

Presentations are available from the JISC/CNI meeting on Transforming the User Experience.

Here's a selection:

Helen Aguera, Senior Program Officer at the National Endowment for the Humanities, has also reported on the conference in a series of Weblog postings:

Digital Curation Centre Releases "Creative Commons Licensing"

The Digital Curation Centre has released "Creative Commons Licensing" as part of its Legal Watch Papers series.

Here's an excerpt:

CC is of great relevance to digital curation in the way it simplifies and increases third party access to and usage of copyright works. Curation is dependant on a range of strategies that require the making of copies and modifications. Unhindered, copyright could impinge on digital curation considerably. However use of these licences may ameliorate the difficulties.

International Study on the Impact of Copyright Law on Digital Preservation Released

The Library of Congress has released the International Study on the Impact of Copyright Law on Digital Preservation. The report was a collaborative effort by the Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, JISC, the OAK Law Project, and the SURF Foundation.

Here's an excerpt from "Purpose and Background of the Report":

This Report was undertaken:

  1. to review the current state of copyright and related laws and their impact on digital preservation;
  2. to make recommendations for legislative reform and other solutions to ensure that libraries, archives and other preservation institutions can effectively preserve digital works and information in a manner consistent with international laws and norms of copyright and related rights; and
  3. to make recommendations for further study or activities to advance the recommendations in the Report.

Frequently Asked Questions about the DCC Curation Lifecycle Model

The Digital Curation Centre has released Frequently Asked Questions about the DCC Curation Lifecycle Model.

Here's an excerpt:

The DCC Curation Lifecycle Model provides a graphical, high level overview of the stages required for successful curation and preservation of data from initial conceptualisation through the iterative curation cycle. The model can be used to plan activities within a specific research project, organisation, or consortium to ensure all necessary stages are undertaken, each in the correct sequence. It is important to note that the description, preservation planning, community watch, and curate and preserve elements of the model should be considered at all stages of activity.

Life Cycle Information for E-Literature: LIFE2 Conference Presentations

Presentations from the LIFE2 Conference are now available.

LIFE2 is the second phase of the LIFE project, which the below excerpt from the project's home page explains:

LIFE (Life Cycle Information for E-Literature) is a project looking at the life cycle of the collection and preservation of digital material. The project is a collaboration between University College London (UCL) Library Services and the British Library and funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC).

Digital Research Data Curation: Overview of Issues, Current Activities, and Opportunities for the Cornell University Library

Cornell University Library's Data Working Group has deposited its Digital Research Data Curation: Overview of Issues, Current Activities, and Opportunities for the Cornell University Library report in the eCommons@Cornell repository.

Here's the abstract:

Advances in computational capacity and tools, coupled with the accelerating collection and accumulation of data in many disciplines, are giving rise to new modes of conducting research. Infrastructure to promote and support the curation of digital research data is not yet fully-developed in all research disciplines, scales, and contexts. Organizations of all kinds are examining and staking out their potential roles in the areas of cyberinfrastructure development, data-driven scholarship, and data curation. The purpose of the Cornell University Library's (CUL) Data Working Group (DaWG) is to exchange information about CUL activities related to data curation, to review and exchange information about developments and activities in data curation in general, and to consider and recommend strategic opportunities for CUL to engage in the area of data curation. This white paper aims to fulfill this last element of the DaWG's charge.

CIC Shared Digital Repository Project Update

A recently updated description of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation's Shared Digital Repository Project is available at Indiana University's Project: Shared Digital Repository page.

Here's an excerpt:

Description: The Shared Digital Repository (SDR) leverages the tradition of leadership in collaboration among the institutions of the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC). The SDR operates under the leadership of the Repository Administrators (Indiana University and the University of Michigan), which also provide a large part of the funding. Additional governance and financial support are provided by the charter participating libraries of the CIC, and by other libraries and library consortia wishing to archive digital content.

Outcome: The SDR offers persistent and high-availability storage for digitized book and journal content, beginning with the Google content from the CIC members and later extending to other digitized content. The SDR will leverage technology investments and developments at the University of Michigan to build (through IU/UM collaboration) more generalized versions of Michigan's services and gain efficiencies from Michigan's investments. . . .

Milestones and status:

As of April 11, 2008, the SDR contains:

  • 1,122,007 volumes
  • 791,460 titles
  • approximately 393 million pages
  • 213,379 individual volumes in the public domain (19% of the total)

Timeline:

  • Early 2008: Bloomington backup storage installed
  • January-March 2008: Page turner mechanism with branding; ability to publish virtual collections (UM-specific version); assessment of global searching functionality; access mechanisms for persons with visual disabilities
  • September-December 2008: Mechanism for direct ingest of non-Google content; compliance with the required elements in the "Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC): Criteria and Checklist"

Survey of Canadian and International Data Management Initiatives Released

The Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL) has released Survey of Canadian and International Data Management Initiatives.

Here's an excerpt from the "Introduction":

Research libraries have a role to play in this emerging data-intensive environment. A 2007 CARL survey found that most CARL members are interested in managing research data, but few have a formal data archiving policy. CARL has formed a Research Data Management Working Group to assist members in collecting, organizing, preserving and providing access to the research data and to formulate a cooperative approach for CARL.

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the types of data management activities being undertaken in Canada and internationally. This review documents the various options available for libraries, and will pave the way for a more detailed investigation by the Working Group of the potential roles for libraries.

SPAR (A Distributed Archiving and Preservation System)

The Bibliothèque Nationale de France is engaged in the SPAR (A Distributed Archiving and Preservation System) project.

Here's an excerpt from the project's English home page:

After more than a year of study, BnF launched the SPAR project, true digital stack. Its design is based on international standards authoritative in the subject of the sustainability of digital information. In particular, SPAR respects the OAIS standard (ISO-14721:2003), reference model for an open archival information system. . . .

The SPAR project is much more than a simple stack of secure data.

  • It makes multiple copies of the digital objects and provides continuous monitoring on the status of the hardware as well as the media containing the recorded files in order to anticipate new copies before a definitive loss.
  • Through a precise and complete recognition of the formats of the ingested objects, it also guarantees the continuity of access by making the necessary transformations in case of the technological obsolescence of the access software. Hence, for example, when the JPEG image format will become obsolete, SPAR will be able to transform all the appropriate images in a new and more permanent format. . . .

SPAR is a system serving a community. It must guarantee that the documents given back haven't been modified. To this goal, SPAR marks each object with a digital signature. Moreover, to guarantee the access rights of the disseminated digital objects, SPAR uses a rights management system which calculates the usage licenses of the digital objects and applies the necessary restrictions depending on the user . . .

Read more about it at Bringing Seven Centuries into the Future: Bibliothèque Nationale de France: SPAR Analysis.

BagIt: New LC/CDL Format for Transferring Digital Content between Cultural Institutions

The Library of Congress and the California Digital Library have established a new format called BagIt for transferring large data collections between cultural institutions.

Read more about it at "The BagIt File Package Format (V0.94)" and "Library Develops Format for Transferring Digital Content."