One Stone, Two Birds: Data Assessment Framework for Digital Collection Audit and Preservation

Abstract

The digital curation community is currently investigating scalable solutions for digital preservation and access. “As the size and complexity of digital collections increases how will curators classify, prioritize, capture, preserve, and present their historical holdings?” To meet these requirements the Digital Information Division of the Michigan State University Libraries has called for a comprehensive inventory of its preservation quality digital collections. A comprehensive inventory will produce an index of collections and items (inventory), provide descriptive information (classification), summarize the state of preservation (assessment), and inform workflow (policy). The Data Asset Framework, formerly the Data Audit Framework, a standard tool for providing a representative audit, is modified to accommodate the scale and density of digital collections acquired by libraries. Modifications to the DAF include 1) automated tools for metadata extraction, checksum generation, and format authentication 2) file storage summaries using disk analysis reporting and container format specifications, and 3) a modified interview schedule to gather metadata at the collection level.One possible output of modifying the DAF to assess digital collections is the potential to map DAF data into PREMIS records for preservation purposes. This activity is unique on the collection level and enhanced reuse is the main benefit of such mapping. The stored XML data can be compared with new audit data for any updates and affords a novel means for tracking changes to digital objects at the collection level. This paper will detail the process used to 1) modify the DAF, 2) map DAF data elements into PREMIS and 3) build a business case for reuse for future audits. The composition and rationale for the tool set and the results attained form the concluding remarks.