Field Of Digital Preservation Research Articles

A study of emerging trends in digital preservation literature: An analysis of journal articles presented in course syllabi

The field of digital preservation education is evolving due to the rapid developments in the digital preservation field, and as educators and researchers respond to these developments. One way to understand trends in education is through the examination of course syllabi and through the assigned course readings, as instructors often utilize and integrate core and seminal literature in these courses. This study aims to understand the emerging topics and trends in digital preservation education through the examination of these course readings. This study examines these topics and trends through an analysis of the literature assigned digital preservation courses at North American ALA (American Library Association)-accredited Master’s in Library and Information Science programs through bibliometric analysis, topic modeling, and visual analysis of the citation data.

Ten Years of Strategic Collaboration of Libraries in Digital Preservation

The German National Specialist Libraries cooperate closely in the field of digital preservation. One of the partners hosts the preservation system, while each library creates its own workflows and is free to ingest its digital material into this system. This paper delineates the factors for success of this collaboration. It describes the different aspects of collaboration in digital preservation and describes the benefits and costs of cooperation in this field as a case study.
 Digital preservation is resource intensive and the required technology is complex. Therefore the libraries benefit from synergy effects: Reduced cost by sharing the preservation system, usage of similar workflows and formats of digital objects, work sharing in networking activities and staff training. The paper also stresses the advantages and difficulties while applying for certificates in a consortium. Their collaboration extends to intensive national and international networking activities, which yield more contacts than a single library could maintain if it acted on its own. The libraries’ staffs are active in working groups of nestor – the German network for digital preservation – and in working groups of the Open Preservation Foundation.

Failure as process

Disaster, loss, and failure preoccupy the minds of many digital preservation professionals, and yet, despite the prominence of digital disaster planning guidelines which seem to anticipate failure, there is limited discussion of experience with preservation system or network failures, which are often framed as inevitable in digital preservation. Despite this framing, negative perceptions of failure influence the digital preservation discourse by associating failure with poor planning, unreliability, and untrustworthiness on the part of institutions. This article will interrogate the issue of failure within the digital preservation field and consider the need for more conversations around network failure and recovery. The authors will argue that failure is part of the process of digital preservation and more honest conversations around this topic will contribute to the practice of openness and transparency within the digital preservation community. To illustrate these issues, the authors will discuss the actual hardware failures experienced by the MetaArchive Cooperative, a community-based distributed digital preservation network, and how the Cooperative’s utilization of the LOCKSS software allowed it to recover from those failures. Additionally, the lessons learned and resulting changes the Cooperative made to technical infrastructure, hardware diversity, policies and procedures will be shared.

Organizational assessment frameworks for digital preservation: A literature review and mapping

As the field of digital preservation (DP) matures, there is an increasing need to systematically assess an organization's abilities to achieve its digital preservation goals, and a wide variety of assessment tools have been created for this purpose. This article aims to map the landscape of research in this area, evaluate the current maturity of knowledge on this central question in DP and provide direction for future research. To do so, this paper reviews assessment frameworks in digital preservation through a systematic literature search and categorizes the literature by type of research. The analysis shows that publication output around assessment in digital preservation has increased markedly over time, but most existing work focuses on developing new models rather than rigorous evaluation and validation of existing frameworks. Significant gaps are present in the application of robust conceptual foundations and design methods, and in the level of empirical evidence available to enable the evaluation and validation of assessment models. The analysis and comparison with other fields suggest that the design of assessment models in DP should be studied rigorously in both theory and practice, and that the development of future models will benefit from applying existing methods, processes, and principles for model design.

Main Architectures Used in ETL as a Tool, Necessary for the Integration of Data in Large Volumes - a Task in the Field of Digital Preservation of Cultural Heritage

The digital recording of Cultural Heritage (CH) and its metadata relates to the concept for data warehousing systems and their lifecycle. It uses models and development tools of ETL packages. The tasks used to extract metadata from raw digitized CH data often include hard computing problems, including NP-complete problems. This paper describes the current state of digital preservation of Cultural Heritage with an accent on data integration and performance optimization of processes. We show our vision for further solutions for automated optimization of resource utilization in ETL jobs cutting development cost. In parallel, we describe our experiment that uses quantum computation (in simulation mode) to solve hard combinatorial problems as multiple query optimization.

Preservation Challenges in the Digital Age

The digital preservation field is evolving rapidly. Focal areas are changing and best practices are still under debate. Preservation efforts must address not just preservation of the technologies of the past, but also those of the future. The rapidly increasing volume of data requiring preservation makes other digital preservation challenges inherently larger and more complex. The shorter lifespan of digital materials also makes the need for timely and effective preservation action more urgent. This article describes what the author sees as the current major challenges in digital preservation, and covers a range of technical, administrative, legal and logistical aspects.

Digital curation beyond the “wild frontier”: a pragmatic approach

This paper advocates the necessity of developing a pragmatic alternative to the dominant custodial theorization of digital curation as an “umbrella concept for digital preservation, data curation, electronic records, and digital asset management”. Starting from a historical account and an examination of prevalent definitions, it points to the current dependence of digital curation on a prescriptive approach rooted in its cognate field of digital preservation, aiming to serve the needs of professional stewardship. It demonstrates the disconnect of this theorization with the rich historical traditions of museum curatorship where the notion of curation originated, its inability to act as a framework for understanding the diversity and pervasiveness of contemporary digital curation practices “in the wild” (such as content curation, personal archiving, and pro-am digitization), and its dependence on a “wild frontier” ideology dissonant with contemporary critical cultural heritage scholarship. The alternative, pragmatic approach views digital curation as a “contact zone” practice, routinely performed by a broad range of actors including researchers, artists, users, and communities, on dynamically evolving objects, domain knowledge representations, and interactions, beyond the curation life cycle prescribed for custodial environments. On this basis, this study calls for a formal reconceptualization of digital curation, adequate knowledge representation of its objects, evidence-based research on curation practices, and establishment of curation-enabled digital infrastructures suitable for curation in the continuum. Reaching beyond a custodial view, this approach aims to establish digital curation as a field of intellectual inquiry relevant to emerging pervasive curation practices in the digital environment.

A digital file inventory of the Queens College Special Collections and Archives

Purpose – This paper aimed to conduct an inventory of digital resources for the Queens College Special Collections and Archives and had two purposes. The first was to assess the digital resources for a department too understaffed to address digital preservation and to provide a step-by-step program for them to start thinking in the long-term. The second was to show how these steps can be generalized for many institutions just starting to have digital holdings and looking to create a long-term digital preservation plan. Design/methodology/approach – The main method for research involved taking a significant sampling of the department’s digital holdings and conducting an inventory of them, analyzing such characteristics as file size, names, formats and metadata. After the inventory was conducted, recommendations were made to the department based on best practices in the field of digital preservation. Findings – We found that while the department generally does not follow industry-best practices for preservation, the files were relatively new and, therefore, many issues could still be fixed. With a concrete plan and a bit of effort, their digital files can be more easily accessible and protected against future threats. Originality/value – The issues that the Department of Special Collections had with their digital holdings are similar to those at many other institutions – especially educational ones where staff turnover is high. This case study could help similar small organizations start to access their digital holdings and start formulating a plan for long-term preservation.

Commentary on Caroline Frick’s Plenary Address

The emerging field of digital preservation can learn from the twentieth-century experiences of audiovisual preservation. Unlike preservation of art, artifacts, and paper, audiovisual preservation has faced rapid cycles of format obsolescence that have required significant effort to refresh, migrate, and emulate. Besser shows how the NYU Moving Image Archiving and Preservation program prepares students to work in this dynamic field. Students in the program are introduced to all aspects of preservation through classroom learning and in internship- and volunteer opportunities. His paper presents a blueprint for preservation education.

Commentary on Fostering High-Impact Research in the Preservation Field

In reaction to the plenary paper delivered by Anne Gilliland, the opening remarks for the symposium, and the other papers and reactions delivered, two major themes warrant deeper discussion and reflection: What does “high-impact” mean when referring to research? How do we fund such research? For research in the field of digital preservation to qualify as high impact, it must-through the use of rigorous, scientifically based methodologies-result in a positive near-term effect on the actual preservation of digital heritage objects. Whether they are traditional records, moving images, emails, the latest file format, or other cultural objects, the research must bring some positive movement toward effective, efficient, comprehensive preservation of the object of study. The goal of such research should be the development of practical and implementable solutions. The author posits that with the current state of archives, intellectual exercises will be of little benefit to those “in the trenches” who are struggling with adapting to the twenty-first-century technologies used to produce records. While the development of high-level theory is important to keep the field of archival science moving forward, such abstract theory does not meet the definition of “high impact.”

Analysis of current situation and perspective of digital preservation in the Social Science Data Archives (ADP)

ABSTRACTSocial science data archives have begun to evolve in 1960’s, thus being one of the pioneers of digital preservation. The Slovenian Data Archive (ADP) follows and adjusts best practices that have emerged in this specific field. Its tasks comprise acquisition, processing and long term preservation of valuable primary research data, as well as providing accessibility to the content for users. As in other areas of digital preservation much attention is paid to meeting the requirements of long term preservation as specified in the OAIS (Opean Archival Information System) standard, and the use of technological solutions, proposed metadata standards, strategies and policies, and best practices. The purpose of this paper is to present procedures in ADP, to compare them with selected solutions of organizations with the similar mission, and to suggest improvements. Examples are taken from partner organizations within the CESSDA data archives association. These organizations (especially those from the USA, Great Britain and the Netherlands) have developed solutions in the field of digital preservation to the highest degree. The paper also reflects on agreed guidelines of reliable services for the archives of research data, which arose in the frame of the FP7 project with the same title (i.e. CESSDA PPP). The results of analysis are useful for all are seeking practical solutions to similar problems.

Generation of a Skeleton Corpus of Digital Objects for the Validation and Evaluation of Format Identification Tools and Signatures

To preserve digital information it is vital that the format of that information can be identified, in-perpetuity. This is the major focus of research within the field of Digital Preservation. The National Archives of the UK called for the Digital Preservation and Digital Curation communities to develop a test corpus of digital objects to help further develop tools to aid this purpose. Following that call, an attempt has been made to develop the suite.This paper initially outlines a methodology to generate a skeleton corpus using simple user-generated digital objects. It then explores the lessons learnt in the generation of a corpus using scripting language techniques from the file format signatures described in The National Archives PRONOM technical registry. It will also discuss the use of the digital signature for this purpose, the benefits of developing a test corpus using this technique. Finally, this paper will outline a methodology for future research before exploring how the community can best make use of the output of this project and how this project needs to be taken forward to completion.

Ontologia para mapeamento da dependência tecnológica de objetos digitais no contexto da curadoria e preservação digital

Introdução: As transformações tecnológicas que afetam a geração, tratamento e armazenagem de objetos digitais têm desafiado os profissionais quanto à dependência de hardware e de software para criar, consumir e monitorar o conteúdo de tais objetos, e garantir acesso a seus conteúdos.O trabalho apresenta os problemas decorrentes da mudança de paradigma da informação fixada em papel para o ambiente digital; os avanços alcançados nas teorias e técnicas de curadoria e preservação de objetos digitais; e a descrição de uma ontologia para sistematizar os conceitos basilares da dependência tecnológica de objetos digitais. Método: o estudo tem base bibliográfico documental apresentando conceitos e técnicas desenvolvidos no campo da curadoria e preservação digital. Descreve uma ontologia elaborada com o software Protégé. Resultados: Apresenta os conceitos de documento, documento digital, objeto digital, preservação e curadoria digital e propõe uma ontologia de apoio ao processo de mapeamento da tecnologia necessária para decodificar os objetos digitais em sinais inteligíveis a humanos. Conclusão: Uma adequada conceituação de documento digital e objeto digital permite a elaboração de soluções que visam a preservação digital. A ontologia proposta poderá apoiar as organizações no mapeamento dos riscos e das perdas que podem ocorrer numa substituição ou desativação de componentes tecnológicos em ambientes computacionais.Em trabalhos futuros a ontologia deverá ser aprimorada e validada, buscando-se investigar seu alinhamento a requisitos e padrões já especificados para a preservação digital.

Estudo bibliométrico sobre preservação digital: library and information science abstracts – LISA

Análise bibliométrica da produção científica no campo da preservação digital, utilizando dados da base Library and Information Science Abstracts – LISA. O corpus do estudo, é constituído das referências bibliográficas dos 1750 artigos, publicados entre 1975 -2009, e oriundo de 153 títulos de periódicos. As análises bibliométricas enfocaram os descritores e títulos dos artigos sobre Preservação Digital. A análise bibliométrica da produção científica, veiculada no período do estudo, demonstrou consolidação da área da Preservação Digital.

Keeping it simple: the Alabama Digital Preservation Network (ADPNet)

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a brief overview of the current state of distributed digital preservation (DDP) networks in North America and to provide a detailed technical, administrative, and financial description of a working, self‐supporting DDP network: the Alabama Digital Preservation Network (ADPNet).Design/methodology/approachThe paper reviews current regional and national initiatives in the field of digital preservation using a variety of sources and considers ADPNet in the context of generally accepted requirements for a robust DDP network. The authors view ADPNet in a comparative perspective with other Private LOCKSS Networks (PLNs) and argue that the Alabama model represents a promising approach to DDP for other states and consortia.FindingsThe paper finds that cultural memory organizations in a number of countries have identified digital preservation as a critical issue and are crafting strategies to address it, with DDP‐based solutions gaining in popularity in North America. It also identifies an array of technical, administrative, and financial challenges that DDP networks must resolve in order to be viable in the long term.Practical implicationsThe paper describes a working model for building a low‐cost but robust DDP network.Originality/valueThe paper is one of the first comprehensive descriptions of a working, self‐sustaining DDP network.

Economics, sustainability, and the cooperative model in digital preservation

PurposeThis paper aims to examine the emerging field of digital preservation and its economics. It seeks to consider in detail the cooperative model and the path it provides toward sustainability as well as how it fosters participation by cultural memory organizations and their administrators, who are concerned about what digital preservation will ultimately cost and who will pay.Design/methodology/approachThe authors cast light on the decisions that administrators of cultural memory organizations are making on a daily basis – namely, to preserve or not to preserve their digital collections. They assert that either way, a decision is being made, costs are incurred, and consequences are being levied. The authors begin by exploring the costs incurred by cultural memory organizations if they do not quickly establish digital preservation programs for their digital assets. They move then to look to the digital preservation field's preliminary findings regarding the costs of preserving digital assets and who should ideally subsidize this investment.FindingsThe authors describe one economically sustainable digital preservation model in practice, the MetaArchive Cooperative, a distributed digital preservation network that has been in operation since 2004. The MetaArchive has built its economic sustainability model and has experienced successes with it for over five years.Originality/valueThere are very few studies or articles in the literature that review studies on the economics of digital preservation and apply them to digital preservation initiatives in action. This article provides that application and further articulates why cultural memory organizations should invest themselves and learn how to provide for the preservation of their own digital collections.

Long-term Digital Preservation in E-government — a Case of Slovenia

Long-term Digital Preservation in E-government — a Case of Slovenia The use of information and communication technology and its widespread presence cause a vast amount of data to be created in the public and private sectors every day. The widespread presence of e-government sites, services and communication in the developed world add even more data. This digital data does not only represent the accountability and reliability of the processes, steps and decisions taken by organisations, but also a source of information for future generations. This paper discusses the issue of long-term digital preservation with a special focus on long-term digital preservation in public administration. It analyses problematic issues, current development trends in this area, and principles and solutions that can be found around the world. The paper focuses on Slovenia as one of the EU countries that has most effectively developed its e-government during the last decade. It analyses the situation in Slovenia through legal, organisational and other changes that have appeared over the last few years, and considers this as a model for possible long-term digital preservation. To describe the situation for digital preservation in Slovenian public administration, the results of empirical research made in 2007 are used. The paper uses theoretical background from the field of digital preservation and empirical results to show the important link between e-business, e-government, e-governance and digital preservation. It demonstrates that since Slovenian public administration has strictly specified business processes, the task of implementing digital preservation is much easier. The same concepts can be transferred to the private sector in Slovenia or anywhere else in the world.

Economics, sustainability, and the cooperative model in digital preservation

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the emerging field of digital preservation and its economics. It seeks to consider in detail the cooperative model and the path it provides toward sustainability as well as how it fosters participation by cultural memory organizations and their administrators, who are concerned about what digital preservation will ultimately cost and who will pay.

The digital library programme at the British Library: goals and priorities

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to show how the British Library (BL) is responding to the changing world of publishing through the Digital Library Programme.Design/methodology/approachThe paper is a descriptive review of the factors that led to the BL establishing the Digital Library Programme. The paper describes the goals of the programme, the priorities for the programme, the mechanisms for providing access to digital material acquired by the Library and gives an overview of the approach to ensuring that material stored in the Digital Library System remains permanently accessible. It also gives a brief overview of some of the main challenges that the Programme faces.FindingsThe unique position of the BL within the research environment means that there is great benefit to be had in building a digital library to store significant amounts of material even where it is already available elsewhere. The reason for this is the ability of the Library to sustain storage and access over a much longer period than can be achieved by commercial companies. The Library has also built up significant expertise and a world leadership in the field of digital preservation. The use of a programme and project structure to manage the development of the infrastructure, processes and procedures has already shown that it can deliver significant benefit in the changing landscape of digital dissemination of information. The use of an iterative and incremental approach both for the programme as a whole and for projects within the programme has shown significant benefits in allowing the BL to make progress where the end goal is very ambitious and there is no obvious off‐the‐shelf solution.Practical implicationsThis may have broad applications for similar complex projects.Originality/valueThe BL Digital Library Programme is providing a solution to the acquisition and dissemination of digital material on a larger scale than is common within the library and archiving community.

Ten years after

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to reflect on progress over the last ten years in the field of digital preservation for cultural heritage institutions.Design/methodology/approachThis is an opinion piece, based on the experience of a practitioner in digital preservation.FindingsDigital preservation has become a mainstream activity. There are differences in the American and European approaches to supporting and organizing preservation initiatives. US institutions would benefit from wider outreach and education efforts.Practical implicationsThe implications are left to the reader, but may suggest that more reflection on the goals and strategies of the preservation community is in order.Originality/valueThis paper identifies a need to develop and support distributed centers of excellence to promote digital preservation, provide expertise to other institutions, and to organize sharing and training opportunities for their constituencies.