OAIS Research Articles

Institutional readiness for digital archives management at United States International University-Africa

ABSTRACTThis article seeks to assess the readiness of the United States International University-Africa (USIU-A) to manage digital archives with a view to proposing strategies to enhance digital archives management at the institution. The study was informed by the Records Continuum Model, the Open Archival Information System Model and the Digital Curation Centre Lifecycle Model. A case study was used as part of a mixed-method research approach with a sample size of 120 respondents drawn from a population of 6937 by using systematic random sampling and purposive sampling techniques. Questionnaires, interviews, observation and documentary review methods were used to collect data. Qualitative and quantitative data was presented and analysed thematically. The study revealed that the infrastructure required for digital archives management was not up to standard. Moreover, a myriad of challenges were unearthed which were found to potentially inhibit the management of digital archives. The study therefore concluded that although USIU-A had taken steps towards digital archives management, more still needed to be done for the institution to effectively manage its digital archives.

Long-term preservation of biomedical research data

Genomics and molecular imaging, along with clinical and translational research have transformed biomedical science into a data-intensive scientific endeavor. For researchers to benefit from Big Data sets, developing long-term biomedical digital data preservation strategy is very important. In this opinion article, we discuss specific actions that researchers and institutions can take to make research data a continued resource even after research projects have reached the end of their lifecycle. The actions involve utilizing an Open Archival Information System model comprised of six functional entities: Ingest, Access, Data Management, Archival Storage, Administration and Preservation Planning. We believe that involvement of data stewards early in the digital data life-cycle management process can significantly contribute towards long term preservation of biomedical data. Developing data collection strategies consistent with institutional policies, and encouraging the use of common data elements in clinical research, patient registries and other human subject research can be advantageous for data sharing and integration purposes. Specifically, data stewards at the onset of research program should engage with established repositories and curators to develop data sustainability plans for research data. Placing equal importance on the requirements for initial activities (e.g., collection, processing, storage) with subsequent activities (data analysis, sharing) can improve data quality, provide traceability and support reproducibility. Preparing and tracking data provenance, using common data elements and biomedical ontologies are important for standardizing the data description, making the interpretation and reuse of data easier. The Big Data biomedical community requires scalable platform that can support the diversity and complexity of data ingest modes (e.g. machine, software or human entry modes). Secure virtual workspaces to integrate and manipulate data, with shared software programs (e.g., bioinformatics tools), can facilitate the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Reusable) use of data for near- and long-term research needs.

Cost Issues in Digitalization and Preservation

For many projects, resources are always limited. Hence, there is often a need to allocate resources in a most cost-effective manner. There are some cost models developed as guidelines on how to estimate the costs of digitalization and preservation of information in a comparatively more accurate way. By knowing the factors which affecting those costs, it will be easier to find a cost-effective strategy for digital preservation. Among different migration strategies proposed by researchers, in this article the migration in the framework of Open Archival Information System (OAIS) will be studied. This is applied to the case of this small-scale music library, Melos Music Library in El Parnaso Centre in Uruguay.

Smart Medical Information Technology for Healthcare (SMITH).

Summary Introduction: This article is part of the Focus Theme of Methods of Information in Medicine on the German Medical Informatics Initiative. “Smart Medical Information Technology for Healthcare (SMITH)” is one of four consortia funded by the German Medical Informatics Initiative (MI-I) to create an alliance of universities, university hospitals, research institutions and IT companies. SMITH’s goals are to establish Data Integration Centers (DICs) at each SMITH partner hospital and to implement use cases which demonstrate the usefulness of the approach. Objectives: To give insight into architectural design issues underlying SMITH data integration and to introduce the use cases to be implemented. Governance and Policies: SMITH implements a federated approach as well for its governance structure as for its information system architecture. SMITH has designed a generic concept for its data integration centers. They share identical services and functionalities to take best advantage of the interoperability architectures and of the data use and access process planned. The DICs provide access to the local hospitals’ Electronic Medical Records (EMR). This is based on data trustee and privacy management services. DIC staff will curate and amend EMR data in the Health Data Storage. Methodology and Architectural Framework: To share medical and research data, SMITH’s information system is based on communication and storage standards. We use the Reference Model of the Open Archival Information System and will consistently implement profiles of Integrating the Health Care Enterprise (IHE) and Health Level Seven (HL7) standards. Standard terminologies will be applied. The SMITH Market Place will be used for devising agreements on data access and distribution. 3LGM 2 for enterprise architecture modeling supports a consistent development process. The DIC reference architecture determines the services, applications and the standards-based communication links needed for efficiently supporting the ingesting, data nourishing, trustee, privacy management and data transfer tasks of the SMITH DICs. The reference architecture is adopted at the local sites. Data sharing services and the market place enable interoperability. Use Cases: The methodological use case “Phenotype Pipeline” (PheP) constructs algorithms for annotations and analyses of patient-related phenotypes according to classification rules or statistical models based on structured data. Unstructured textual data will be subject to natural language processing to permit integration into the phenotyping algorithms. The clinical use case “Algorithmic Surveillance of ICU Patients” (ASIC) focusses on patients in Intensive Care Units (ICU) with the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). A model-based decision-support system will give advice for mechanical ventilation. The clinical use case HELP develops a “hospital-wide electronic medical record-based computerized decision support system to improve outcomes of patients with blood-stream infections” (HELP). ASIC and HELP use the PheP. The clinical benefit of the use cases ASIC and HELP will be demonstrated in a change of care clinical trial based on a step wedge design. Discussion: SMITH’s strength is the modular, reusable IT architecture based on interoperability standards, the integration of the hospitals’ information management departments and the public-private partnership. The project aims at sustainability beyond the first 4-year funding period.

Data rescue archive weather (DRAW)

PurposeTo rescue at-risk historical scientific data stored at the McGill Observatory, the objectives of the Data Rescue Archive Weather (DRAW) project are: to build a repository; to develop a protocol to preserve the data in weather registers; and to make the data available to research communities and the public. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachThe DRAW project adopts an open archive information system compliant model as a conceptual framework for building a digital repository. The model consists of data collection, conversion, data capture, transcription, arrangement, description, data extraction, database design and repository setup.FindingsA climate data repository, as the final product, is set up for digital images of registers and a database is designed for data storage. The repository provides dissemination of and access to the data for researchers, information professionals and the public.Research limitations/implicationsDoing a quality check is the most important aspect of rescuing historical scientific data to ensure the accuracy, reliability and consistency of data.Practical implicationsThe DRAW project shows how the use of historical scientific data has become a key element in research analysis on scientific fields, such as climatology and environmental protection.Originality/valueThe historical climate data set of the McGill Observatory is by nature unique and complex for preservation and research purposes. The management of historical scientific data is a challenge to rescue and describe as a result of its heterogeneous and non-standardized form.

Os padrões de metadados como recursos tecnológicos para a garantia da preservação digital

A garantia de preservação digital a longo prazo só será possível com a adoção efetiva de padrões ou esquemas de metadados, pois são eles que determinarão a descrição, a representação, a consistência e a persistência do recurso/objeto digital no ambiente informacional, além de definir a interoperabilidade entre sistemas. A adoção de metadados para preservação apoia a administração dos processos relativos ao arquivamento e à manutenção do acesso à informação digital a longo prazo, com garantias de autenticidade, de integridade e de confiabilidade. Neste cenário, foi objetivo do trabalho identificar e descrever padrões ou esquemas de metadados que poderiam ser considerados por instituições que estão desenvolvendo seus repositórios institucionais, para que possam contemplar a preservação digital. Para tanto, foi desenvolvida pesquisa bibliográfica e sistematização e análise de conteúdo. Foram selecionados e analisados os seguintes esquemas e padrões de metadados: DUBLIN CORE, MODS, EAD, ANSI/NISO Z39.87, METS e o PREMIS. A análise dos resultados indica que os metadados descritivos e técnicos do DC, MODS, EAD e ANSI/NISO Z39.87 ou MIX, possuem um papel mais direcionado a amparar o METS e o PREMIS, tanto na descoberta e no registro dos aspectos técnicos do objeto digital, como na comprovação de sua procedência, autenticidade, contexto e integridade. Englobando metadados descritivos, estruturais, administrativos e de preservação do PREMIS, o METS pode gerir os objetos digitais atuando como um Pacote de Submissão de Informação (PSI), Pacote de Arquivamento de Informação (PAI) ou Pacote de Disseminação de Informação (PDI) num Sistema Aberto de Arquivamento de Informação (SAAI).

VizieR catalogue system certified by the Data Seal of Approval

Astronomy is a fertile environment with collaborations leading to the elaboration of disciplinary standards. Deploying standards in data centers can be beneficial for long term preservation and it puts the discipline in the open data era. VizieR [1] is the CDS service dedicated to catalogues. It gathers data and tables, but also associated data like spectra or images coming from published papers or collaborations with various agencies. VizieR gives access to data through services to the astronomical community and preserves data for the long term. Several years ago, it became clear that it was worth applying for an external evaluation to certify that VizieR is a trustable data repository. The Data Seal of Approval (DSA) [2] is granted to repositories that are committed to archiving and providing access to scholarly research in a sustainable way. CDS applied to the DSA in particular for the VizieR catalogue service. The VizieR information system is based on accurate data documentation provided by specialists. The data life cycle from ingestion to access and preservation is presented, with reference to the Open Archive Information System (OAIS [3]).

Archiving Archaeological Research Data - On Requirements, Objectives and First Experiences from a German Respectively Saxon Point of View

Preserving digital data over long times is an ambitious task. While most analogue documents are best stored without touching them, digital data need permanent care and curation. Regarding some differences between analogue and digital data - lifecycle, complexity, functionality and so on - it can be realized, that digital archiving is a new challenge.This paper will deal with requirements and objectives on archiving archaeological research data, as discussed in a working group of the Association of State Archaeologists in Germany (Verband der Landesarchäologen in Deutschland – VLA). Interesting themes of that discussions were “Archive Objectives”, “Worthiness of Archiving”, “Suitability of Archiving” and “Future Use Scenarios”. This paper will also deal with first experiences in building up a digital archive for archaeological research data in Saxony. This archive follows principles of “Open Archival Information System” (OAIS). It is based on professional software that has to be adapted to the special requirements of archaeological data like e.g. excavation documentation. OAIS defines six complex functions to be performed, e.g. data management and preservation planning. Preservation strategies are presented to give an idea on how to preserve content and function of archive material while systems are changing over time. This is an alternative to the idea, knowing file formats will solve all preservation problems.Archiving is the most intensive and most expensive way to store data. But aren’t there any alternatives? This paper will address some small steps leading towards a proper archiving without using large budgets. Going such steps will help to reduce the risk of losing important digital information. Going these steps will also bridge the gap until proper preservation tools will be available at a reasonable price.This article may be helpful for archaeologists that are about to build up an archive to preserve digital data for long terms. The presented concept of preservation strategies may be of interest for specialists on digital archiving.

Social science data repositories in data deluge

PurposeOwing to the recent surge of interest in the age of the data deluge, the importance of researching data infrastructures is increasing. The open archival information system (OAIS) model has been widely adopted as a framework for creating and maintaining digital repositories. Considering that OAIS is a reference model that requires customization for actual practice, this paper aims to examine how the current practices in a data repository map to the OAIS environment and functional components.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted two focus-group sessions and one individual interview with eight employees at the world’s largest social science data repository, the Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR). By examining their current actions (activities regarding their work responsibilities) and IT practices, they studied the barriers and challenges of archiving and curating qualitative data at ICPSR.FindingsThe authors observed that the OAIS model is robust and reliable in actual service processes for data curation and data archives. In addition, a data repository’s workflow resembles digital archives or even digital libraries. On the other hand, they find that the cost of preventing disclosure risk and a lack of agreement on the standards of text data files are the most apparent obstacles for data curation professionals to handle qualitative data; the maturation of data metrics seems to be a promising solution to several challenges in social science data sharing.Originality/valueThe authors evaluated the gap between a research data repository’s current practices and the adoption of the OAIS model. They also identified answers to questions such as how current technological infrastructure in a leading data repository such as ICPSR supports their daily operations, what the ideal technologies in those data repositories would be and the associated challenges that accompany these ideal technologies. Most importantly, they helped to prioritize challenges and barriers from the data curator’s perspective and to contribute implications of data sharing and reuse in social sciences.

Looking back

In 2013, Deakin University Library undertook a self-assessment of its research repository, Deakin Research Online, against ISO 16363. ISO 16363 is heavily structured on the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model, so an understanding of OAIS is critical for a full understanding of the ISO 16363 criteria. With over 100 ISO 16363 criteria, a self-assessment can be a large and complex undertaking. Not only are many of the criteria very complex to understand, their arrangement is such that many of them cover common ground, which may lead to duplication of effort. An effective and efficient self-assessment will include a preliminary review of all the criteria, including an assessment of their applicability and risk to the repository being assessed. If resources are limited, repository managers should also focus their self-assessment on high-risk or vulnerable areas. Regular self-assessments of research repositories are highly recommended. Repository managers also need to ensure that once a self-assessment is completed, that resources are allocated to addressing identified areas of improvement.

How can we improve our web collection? An evaluation of webarchiving at the KB National Library of the Netherlands (2007–2017)

In 2007, the Koninklijke Bibliotheek, the Dutch National Library (KB-NL), started the project ‘webarchiving’ based on a selection of Dutch websites. The initial selection of 1000 websites has currently grown into over 12,000 selected websites, crawled at different intervals. Although due to legal restrictions the current use is limited to the KB-NL reading room, it is important that the KB-NL includes the requirements of the (future) users in its approach to creating a web collection. With respect to the long-term preservation of the collection, we also need to incorporate the requirements for long-term archiving in our approach, as described in the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Model ISO 14721: 2012. This article describes the results of a research project on webarchiving and the web collection of archived sites in the KB-NL, investigating the following questions. What is webarchiving in the Netherlands? What are the selection criteria of KB-NL and how are these related to what can be found on the Dutch web by the contemporary user? What is the influence of the choice of tools we use to harvest the final archived website? Do we know enough of the value of the web collection and the potential usage of it by researchers and how can we improve this value? This article will describe the outcomes of the research, the conclusions and advice that can be drawn from it and it is hoped will inspire broader discussions about the essence of creating web collections for long-term preservation as part of cultural heritage.

Rethinking digital preservation: definitions, models, and requirements

PurposeThis paper aims to clarify a mechanism for determining the robustness of digital preservation options given that the field has matured and contains a number of alternatives.Design/methodology/approachBy examining the component activities of digital preservation, the open archival information system (OAIS) reference model and the trustworthy repository certification process, this paper outlines a possible new model for evaluating the caliber of any particular digital preservation mechanism.FindingsThis paper offers a more ordered and prescriptive model for evaluating digital preservation efforts.Research limitations/implicationsAs a review of the OAIS reference model is underway, this paper seeks to contribute to that ongoing discussion to address several issues lacking in the current model and its effect on the certification process.Originality/valueThis paper identifies weaknesses in current practices and offers a model for addressing them.

An OAIS-Based Hospital Information System on the Cloud: Analysis of a NoSQL Column-Oriented Approach.

The Open Archive Information System (OAIS) is a reference model for organizing people and resources in a system, and it is already adopted in care centers and medical systems to efficiently manage clinical data, medical personnel, and patients. Archival storage systems are typically implemented using traditional relational database systems, but the relation-oriented technology strongly limits the efficiency in the management of huge amount of patients' clinical data, especially in emerging cloud-based, that are distributed. In this paper, we present an OAIS healthcare architecture useful to manage a huge amount of HL7 clinical documents in a scalable way. Specifically, it is based on a NoSQL column-oriented Data Base Management System deployed in the cloud, thus to benefit from a big tables and wide rows available over a virtual distributed infrastructure. We developed a prototype of the proposed architecture at the IRCCS, and we evaluated its efficiency in a real case of study.

A service-based framework for the OAIS model for earth science data management

The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS), in 2002, released their first version of a Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS). In 2003, the model was adopted by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as ISO 14721:2003. The CCSDS document was updated in 2012 with additional focus on verifying the authenticity of data and developing concepts of access rights and a security model. The OAIS model is the basis of research data management systems across institutions and disciplines around the world. The Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), in 2006, released their first version of a Reference Model for Service Oriented Architecture (SOA). OASIS defines the SOA as “a paradigm for organizing and utilizing distributed capabilities that may be under the control of different ownership domains.” Systems designed around the SOA model benefit from improved scalability, flexibility, and agility. This paper applies the SOA model to the OAIS repository to describe how repositories can be implemented and extended through the use of services that may be internal or external to the host institution, including the consumption of network- or cloud-based services and resources. We use the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) design paradigm to describe a set of potential extensions to OAIS Reference Model: purpose and justification for each extension, where and how each extension connects to the model, and an example of a specific service that meets the purpose.

Introduction

Introduction Alistair Black (bio) and Emily J. M. Knox (bio) It is a sad fact that far fewer people survive to celebrate a platinum wedding anniversary (seventy years) than they do a diamond anniversary (sixty years). No doubt that is the main reason why the former is much less well-known than the latter. Thankfully, the marriage of the doctoral program in library and information science to what is now the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois has lasted long enough to achieve platinum status—due to the longevity of both parties, as well as their compatibility.1 Of course, to wait to celebrate the marriage at the three-quarters-of-a-century mark might have proved even more impactful, but then the opportunity would have been lost to use the platinum anniversary to signal the recent change (2016) of name of the school—now, the School of Information Sciences—as well as the changing complexion of the doctoral program that the change of name partially represents. The school's adoption of the information sciences rubric is reflected in the great diversity of doctoral studies now undertaken in it. The information sciences spectrum, as Marcia Bates (2015) illustrates, is one of great width, stretching—to cite just a handful of disciplines and subdisciplines—from library science, museum studies, bibliography, archival science, and the sociology of information, to records management, information management, information science, data curation, data analytics, information systems, and informatics. Nowadays, the research interests of the school's doctoral students map fairly closely onto this spectrum, effectively spanning the information sciences—hence the title of this issue of Library Trends. This width contrasts markedly with the relatively constricted nature of the original doctoral program. Compare, for example, the titles of the first ten doctoral theses awarded in the school during the period 1951 to 1957 to the titles of the most recent ten (2015–2016):2 [End Page 467] • The Use of Library Materials in Doctoral Research: A Study of the Effect of Differences in Research Method (1951) • Regulations Relating to the Book Trade in London from 1357 to 1586 (1953) • The Development of Reference Services in American Research Libraries (1954) • Alexander Gill, The Elder, High Master of St. Paul's School: An Approach to Milton's Intellectual Development (1955) • The Influence of Scholars on Research Library Development at the University of Illinois (1955) • A Study of the Problem of Complete Documentation in Science and Technology (1956) • Characteristics of Libraries in Selected Higher Military Educational Institutions in the United States (1957) • Professional Development of Reference Librarians in a University Library: A Case Study (1957) • A Study of Certain Factors in Institutions of Higher Education Which Influence Students to Become Librarians (1957) • Capturing the Context of Digital Literacy: A Case Study of Illinois Public Libraries in Underserved Communities (2015) • Deliberating Environmental Policy: Information Seeking and Use in Canada's House of Commons Standing Committees (2015) • Design Problems in Crowdsourcing: Improving the Quality of Crowdbased Data Collection (2015) • The Genesis of Youth Services in Public Libraries in China, 1912–1937 (2015) • Libraries and the System of Information Provision in the 1930s United States: The Transformation of Technology, Access, and Policy (2015) • Methods Metadata: Curating Scientific Research Data for Reuse (2015) • The Community Informatics of an Aging Society: A Comparative Case Study of Public Libraries and Senior Centers (2016) • Educational Hypercomics: Learners, Institutions, and Comics in E-Learning Interface Design (2016) • Encoding Power: The Scripting of Archival Structures in Digital Spaces Using the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model (2016) • Latinas in Telecommunications: Intersectional Experiences in the Bell System (2016) Whereas in the 1950s the dominant themes were libraries and the book, today, in the early twenty-first century, these have been supplemented by multiple considerations arising from digital society and its technologies. [End Page 468] Arguably, there has also been a shift in terms of greater interdisciplinarity.3 This year, 2017, marks the seventieth year of the program, as well the seventieth anniversary of the initiative to inaugurate it. The decision to scope out a doctoral program was made in the fall of 1947. In October, the director of what was at that time Illinois Library School...

Digital preservation

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which digital preservation facilitate the implementation of electronic government, open data and the right to information.Design/methodology/approachA case study research which chronicles the link between transparency and data availability. It makes use of a theoretical framework based on the open archival information system to analyse, explain, clarify and justify the application of open data, electronic government and the right to information.FindingsThe paper argued that e-government, open data and the RTI will remain elusive if a digital preservation infrastructure is not pursued. Within the context of e-government, the paper adumbrated that government agencies can incorporate e-government legislations into their digital preservation activities, precisely because the relationship between digital preservation and e-government have always been symbiotic. It alluded to the fact that an obligation will be placed on all public authorities and private agencies covered by the RTL law to create, keep and organise an effective and efficient system of record keeping, so as to give meaning to the right to information when citizens apply for information.Practical implicationsFuture research should examine closely the implication of open data government within the context of digital preservation. Whilst digital preservation looks forward to the longevity of digital records and its accessibility, open data focusses on the utility of these records through online services, reuse and distribution for the purposes of transparency and citizens’ participation.Originality/valueThe application of digital preservation to open data in this paper appears to be more relevant at a time when most governments of the world are striving to obtain data to fight poverty, achieve universal primary education, fight HIV and foster maternal health. Its originality can further be established from the symbiotic relationship between digital preservation and electronic government, open data and the right to information.

A comprehensive open package format for preservation and distribution of geospatial data and metadata

The complexities of the intricate geospatial resources and formats make preservation and distribution of GIS data difficult even among experts. The proliferation of, for instance, KML, Internet map services, etc, reflects the need for sharing geodata but a comprehensive solution when having to deal with data and metadata of a certain complexity is not currently provided. Original geospatial data is usually divided into several parts to record its different aspects (spatial and thematic features, etc), plus additional files containing, metadata, symbolization specifications and tables, etc; these parts are encoded in different formats, both standard and proprietary. To simplify data access, software providers encourage the use of an additional element that we call generically “map project”, and this contains links to other parts (local or remote). Consequently, in order to distribute the data and metadata refereed by the map in a complete way, or to apply the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) standard to preserve it for the future, we need to face the multipart problem. This paper proposes a package allowing the distribution of real (comprehensive although diverse and complex) GIS data over the Internet and for data preservation. This proposal, complemented with the right tools, hides but keeps the multipart structure, so providing a simpler but professional user experience. Several packaging strategies are reviewed in the paper, and a solution based on ISO 29500-2 standard is chosen. The solution also considers the adoption of the recent Open Geospatial Consortium Web Services common standard (OGC OWS) context document as map part, and as a way for also combining data files with geospatial services. Finally, and by using adequate strategies, different GIS implementations can use several parts of the package and ignore the rest: a philosophy that has proven useful (e.g. in TIFF).

Transforming User Knowledge into Archival Knowledge

The users of archives have a vast body of knowledge about the records held in the archives. Some users have participated in the events, some have known the persons involved, some are experts in the subject matters. Their knowledge can cover important gaps that exist in archived knowledge. The objective of this paper is to explore methods to capture user knowledge and transform it to archival knowledge. We investigate the theory and describe the practical implementation developed at the National Archives of Estonia (NAE). In the theoretical part, we discuss the concept of knowledge and analyse its handling in the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) reference model. Having a clear focus on practical usability we identify a way to improve OAIS: complementing the model with a new link between Access and Data Management functional entities enables more efficient updating of descriptive information. Moving to practice, we describe the initial situation at the NAE, the needs, the approach taken and the solution — the new Archival Information System AIS 2.0. We explain key aspects of the system, including the use of 5-star Open Data in attaining the goal of knowledge transformation.

The power of imaginary users: Designated communities in the OAIS reference model

ABSTRACTThis paper explores the Designated Community term within the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model. Information practitioners, particularly those who work with varied populations and popular materials such as public‐ or state‐sponsored libraries and museums, complain that this term is counter to their professional, ethical, and legal mandates to serve many types of user. Using interview data from digital preservation practitioners and scholars as well as interview data from OAIS authors, the author examines the meaning and history behind this term and what it prescribes for professional digital preservation practice. This work juxtaposes contentions of digital preservation practitioners with explanations provided by the authors of OAIS about the Designated Community term. The findings in this paper support the author's contention that alternative digital preservation models and metrics are necessary within cultural heritage institutions, like libraries and museums, to meet the professional standards of practice in those areas and to ensure the inclusion of broad populations within the user bases of digital repositories.

Digital Long-Term-Preservation in Austria

Long-term-preservation is a much discussed topic and a lot of institutions seem to deal with this question. But most of them are only saving digital data. The authors give a review on considerations and strategies for a longterm preservation of cultural heritage in Austria. The Austrian State Archives already have established an electronic long-term archive for the permanent storage of digital data, called “Digital Archive Austria”. The modular software is based on the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) reference model and follows the concept of a service-oriented architecture with an interface to archival information systems. A web shop with a billing system is part of the service for the access to digital data. For reasons of cost efficiency the Austrian Federal Chancellery has purchased a general license enabling all Austrian provinces, cities, communities and other public authorities to use this archive solution without having to pay license fees all over again.