Preservation Of Digital Content Research Articles

Determination of library staff skills to enhance visibility of intellectual output in Nigerian universities

PurposeUniversity intellectual output such as theses and dissertations are valuable resources containing rigorous research results. Library staff who are key players in promoting intellectual output through institutional repositories require skills to promote content visibility, create wider outreach and facilitate easy access and use of these resources. This study aims to determine the skills of library staff to enhance the visibility of intellectual output in federal university libraries in southeast Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachA survey research design was adopted for the study. The questionnaire was used to obtain responses from library staff on the extent of computer skills and their abilities for digital conversion, metadata creation and preservation of digital content.FindingsLibrary staff at the university libraries had high skills in basic computer operations. They had moderate skills in digital conversion, preservation and storage. However, they had low skills in metadata creation.Practical implicationsThe study has implications for addressing the digital skills and professional expertise of library staff, especially as it concerns metadata creation, digital conversion, preservation and storage. It also has implications for the university management to prioritize the training of their library staff in other to increase the visibility of indigenous resources and university Web ranking.Originality/valueThis study serves as a lens to identify library staff skill gaps in many critical areas that require expertise and stimulate conscious effort toward developing adequate skills for effective digital information provision. It sheds light on the challenges that many Nigerian university libraries face in their pursuit of global visibility and university Web ranking.

The status of the digital preservation policies and plans of the institutional repositories of selected public universities in Kenya

Institutional repositories (IRs) have a leading role in providing long-term access to the research output of universities. This study assessed the capabilities of institutional repositories in Kenya to support long-term preservation of digital content by reviewing digital preservation policies and plans. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews from 19 respondents drawn from three public universities that were identified by their registration in OpenDOAR, ROARMAP and the number of items in their repositories. Additional data was acquired through analysis of documents such as open access policies and mandates, as well as institutional websites. Findings revealed that the organizations were poorly prepared to support long-term digital preservation. Policies were inadequate and plans to support the implementation of the policies were lacking. The study concluded that although the IRs were to undertake digital preservation, they lacked clearly defined actions from plans and policy. This article offers recommendations, including identifying digital preservation goals that will guide policy formulation and multi-stakeholder involvement in the policy-making process. Effort should also be made to create awareness of the relationship between digital content selection and its successful long-term preservation.

Preservasi konten fisik dan digital pada perpustakaan perguruan tinggi

Background. The development of information technology encourages university libraries to apply it in library activities. The purpose of this study is to analyze how physical and digital content is preserved in university libraries.Methodology. This study uses a qualitative approach with descriptive analysis. Data collection techniques are carried out by literature review / literature study related to the preservation of physical and digital content in college libraries. Data analysis was performed by criticizing, comparing, summarizing, and gathering (synthesizing) some literatures. Thus, the method used in this paper is literature study with an emphasis on peeling, summarizing and collecting literature, then analyzing the data that has been collected.Results and discussion. In university libraries, efforts to preserve the value of information so that information can be used for a relatively longer period of time and avoid damage to digital or electronic collections requires strategies to be carried out in carrying out physical and digital content preservation activities. Strategies that can be carried out by higher education libraries in preserving physical and digital content are 1) Technology Preservation; 2) Refreshing or Updating (Refreshing); 3) Migration and Reformating (Migration and Reformating); 4) Emulation (Emulation); 5) Digital Archeology; and 6) Digital to analogConclusions. College libraries have carried out physical and digital content preservation activities in the current era. Although there are still some things that need to be improved and improved in the future.

Digitization of Library Resources in Higher Education Institutions in La Union, Philippines

Abstract This descriptive research determined the extent of implementation of the guidelines on digitization of resources in the libraries of HEIs in La Union along selection, technical requirement and implementation, legal aspects, budget, human resource planning, development and maintenance, preservation of digital content and project management; and the strengths and weaknesses on digitization of resources. Data gathered using the validated and pretested questionnaire was treated using percentage, ranking, and weighted mean. A total of 40 library personnel participated in the study. The implementation of the guidelines on digitization of resources in the libraries of HEIs in La Union, Philippines was found to be moderately implemented and is relatively weak. A Digitization Manual Model was formulated to address the identified weaknesses. Through these guidelines and procedures, library personnel will have clear guidelines as to how digitization activities must be done. It will serve as a framework that will provide effective and efficient digitization.

Development and Implementation of a Phased Framework for Collecting the COVID-19 Virus Material at a Medical University

As national leaders in infectious disease outbreaks, the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) and its hospital partner Nebraska Medicine monitored and treated COVID-19 patients, starting with evacuees from Wuhan, China in February 2020. To document UNMC’s institutional response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and future outbreaks or pandemics, UNMC’s McGoogan Health Sciences Library Special Collections and Archives (SCA) Department faculty quickly established an archival collecting strategy to create a broad documentation package with multiple collecting phases. The initial phase included a contemporaneous response for digital collecting, timeline creation, and community collecting, followed by later collecting of personal papers, artifacts, and oral histories from key players who are also front-line workers. The combined collecting approach ensured early digital content preservation, captured public momentum, and provided the structure for longer-term collecting, after time for healing and relationship-building with prospective donors.

Digital Preservation (challenges, preparedness and reaction)

The STORM (H2020 700191), experience give us evidence on how it is important to address risks coming from natural hazards with the proper preparedness. Anyhow the project left one face of the picture uncovered. The aim of this paper is to stimulate further discussions related to digitised documentation and digital cultural assets safety either if they are digital born or reproduction of real ones. In 2003, UNESCO released the “Charter on the Preservation of Digital Heritage”[1], which defines digital heritage as “made up of computer-based materials of enduring value that should be kept for future generations (UNESCO 2003)”. Digital heritage emanates from different communities, industries, sectors and regions. Not all digital material is of enduring value, but a paramount volume of digital objects, especially the digital documentation related to cultural heritage, require active preservation approaches regardless the technology evolution. . It should be a priority to preserve that digital patrimony as well as to preserve the physical one. For this reason we aggregate the two view points in the “Digital heritage”. The challenge is represented by the preservation from one side of the digital born objects (including all the cultural heritage documentation), from the other objects coming from the conversion of existing/disappeared ones, must be protected and preserved. We are facing day by day a wider scenario where gallery, library, archive, and museum (GLAM)[2] dependence from digital content preservation is growing so the need for a lifecycle management of digital materials is necessary to ensure their continuity.

Digital preservation

O objetivo do artigo foi prover uma visão ampla e reflexiva dos principais aspectos da preservação digital, a partir dos desafios indicados, dos requisitos reconhecidos e das estratégias analisadas pela comunidade científica. A metodologia adota pesquisa quanti-qualitativa e exploratória-descritiva, com revisão da literatura nacional e internacional dos últimos vinte um anos acerca da preservação digital, a fim de apoiar a apreensão de tendências e políticas do tema como aprofundar as discussões sobre as necessidades no arquivamento e preservação de conteúdos digitais a longo prazo. Analisa dados do levantamento bibliográfico de publicações científicas nas bases Scopus e Web of Science dos últimos cinco anos (2015-2019) que tratam do assunto “digital preservation”. Observa que dos métodos discutidos, orçamentos, custos e metadados para preservação e arquivamento da Web são temas emergentes e carentes de estudos na Ciência da Informação brasileira. Na produção científica internacional, o Brasil destaca-se pelas quantias de publicações indicando uma maduração do tema e pactuando com o avanço dos projetos nacionais, como a Rede Cariniana. Porém, temos demandas financeiras, humanas e tecnológicas que, unido às características das estratégias para preservação digital, expõem a utilidade das colaborações e dos tópicos nacionais pouco explorados.

The State of Preparedness for Digital Curation and Preservation: A Case Study of a Developing Country Academic Library

Digital technologies have allowed libraries to create, manipulate, store and make accessible vast amounts of digital content. However, they endanger the longevity of the very objects they produce and require very different management than the traditional paper-based world. Despite the fact that the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) Library in Zimbabwe has amassed a huge body of digital collections, there are no formal mechanisms to ensure accessibility and long-term preservation of digital content. The study assessed the state of preparedness of NUST Library for digital curation and preservation of its digital collections. The conceptual framework was based on Sinclair et al. (2011) and Boyle, Eveleigh, and Needham’s (2008) formulations. NUST Library preparedness for digital curation and preservation was assessed by examining awareness, competencies, technology infrastructure, digital disaster preparedness and challenges to digital curation and preservation. A mixed methods research design employing a case study research strategy was adopted for the study. The findings revealed a low level of awareness of digital curation and preservation. Challenges to digital curation are mainly lack of policies, lack of expertise by library staff and lack of funding. It is recommended that the Library should consider digital curation and preservation as one of the primary responsibilities and take staff members’ training in this area seriously in order to ensure current and future access to digital collections.

An improved E-DRM scheme for mobile environments

With the rapid development of information science and network technology, Internet has become an important platform for the dissemination of digital content, which can be easily copied and distributed through the Internet. Although convenience is increased, it causes significant damage to authors of digital content. Digital rights management system (DRM system) is an access control system that is designed to protect digital content and ensure illegal users from maliciously spreading digital content. Enterprise Digital Rights Management system (E-DRM system) is a DRM system that prevents unauthorized users from stealing the enterprise's confidential data. User authentication is the most important method to ensure digital rights management. In order to verify the validity of user, the biometrics-based authentication protocol is widely used due to the biological characteristics of each user are unique. By using biometric identification, it can ensure the correctness of user identity. In addition, due to the popularity of mobile device and Internet, user can access digital content and network information at anytime and anywhere. Recently, Mishra et al. proposed an anonymous and secure biometric-based enterprise digital rights management system for mobile environment. Although biometrics-based authentication is used to prevent users from being forged, the anonymity of users and the preservation of digital content are not ensured in their proposed system. Therefore, in this paper, we will propose a more efficient and secure biometric-based enterprise digital rights management system with user anonymity for mobile environments.

Workflow guidelines for digital content preservation: A snapshot of current practice

Effective management of incoming born-digital content can be informed by a review of the decisions being made and the methods being used at organisations in the digital preservation community, and the best practice resources that are available online and in print. A survey administered in 2016 captures a snapshot of solutions, recommendations and complaints by practitioners in the field. Three workflow models are compared with the survey results and synthesised for clarity and practicality. Within each stage of the workflow guidelines, functions are defined and tools suggested, based on survey results. Recommendations are outlined for next steps towards the development of best practices.

Problems with Describing E-born and Digitized Archival Records

National Program for Culture defines that the digitization and preservation of digital content in the field of culture, which include archives and libraries are among the basic tasks of public institutions dealing with cultural heritage. However, it would be reasonable to think how the digitization of library and archival material and free access to the online content are reflected in the description of digital content. Libraries and archives implemented in the last ten years various digitization projects. However, they did not pay attention to the description of digitized material, which raises the question of the importance of context. This raises also the question of the evidential value of the digitized archives as well as authenticity, integrity and accountability of the digitized material in a broader context, which archives provide on the basis of the principles of provenance and original order. The digitization of archives is not specific only from the standpoint of the digitization process itself but also from the standpoint of the description of digitized archives. Adequate description enables namely the wide use of digitized archival material. A short presentation of literature and up to now accomplished research is followed by an analysis of online accessible descriptions of digitized archival material. The analysis was conducted in 48 foreign archival information systems and their databases. These are large systems, some of which operate as a common database of several smaller archives, but some systems are individual systems of the large national archives. The analyses was conducted in publicly accessible user interfaces, and was based on a direct applicability of the descriptions of digitized archival material within individual database. This is the query that can be performed by average user of archival material with access to the search engine knowing at least the basics of the web browser and of searching and sorting of the results.

Editorial

Editorial

A decision support system to facilitate file format selection for digital preservation

This paper presents a method to facilitate decision making for the preservation of digital content in libraries and archives using institutional risk profiles that highlight endangered files formats (in danger of becoming inaccessible or unusable). The primary contribution of this work is the combined use of both machine-mined data and human-expert input to select and configure institution-specific preservation risk profiles. The machine-mined data used the developed File Format Metadata Aggregator (FFMA), and the crowdsourced expert input was collected via two surveys of digital preservation practitioners. A by-product of this endeavor is the ability to visualize risk factors for analysis. The underlying decision support system used the Cosine Similarity algorithm to provide recommendations for matching risk profiles to selected institutional risk settings. This method improves the interpretability of risk factor values and the quality of a digital preservation process. The aggregated information about the risk factors is presented as a multidimensional vector that shows a particular analysis focus and its resulting impact on selected file formats. Sample risk profile calculations and the visualization of risk factor dimensions are shared in the evaluation section.

The preservation of disk-based content at the British Library

This article introduces the British Library’s Flashback project, which is exploring the practical challenges of preserving digital content currently stored on physical media (magnetic and optical disks). It reports on a Flashback proof of concept that conducted experiments on a sample of content from hybrid collection items dating from between 1980 and 2000. It describes some of the activities undertaken by the proof-of-concept stage of the project from July 2015 to February 2016, including the initial collection profiling and sampling of content, the extraction of content from the disks, and the project team’s experiments with identifying and applying preservation approaches to the content, which included both emulation and migration. It concludes with some general observations on the approaches taken by the proof of concept and shares some recent findings from the second phase of the project, which is concerned with the practical challenges of developing an implementation strategy for the Library’s capture and preservation of digital content currently stored on physical media.

Some issues of long-term storage of electronic documents

This paper considers basic aspects of the preservation of digital content using optical discs and special storage systems. Features of write-once and rewritable optical discs are shown. The EMC Centera datastorage system is discussed. The experience of work on the formation and storage of information arrays on the example of Digital Library Scientific Heritage of Russia and projects of the Russian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation is analyzed.

Open Oregon Digital: Transforming metadata for the semantic web

Oregon Digital, the shared digital collections of the University of Oregon and Oregon State University, recently migrated its digital asset management systems to Hydra and its digital collection data to linked open data (LOD). The Hydra Project is an open source technical framework with a Fedora back-end for providing access, management and preservation of digital content. This paper outlines the steps taken by Oregon Digital to crosswalk data, standardise institutional and cross-institutional collections and publish URIs required for LOD implementation. It also discusses the future benefits of LOD for cataloguing, searching and discovery of the digital collections.

Heritage and society: strategic guidelines for the digitization of the Lithuanian cultural heritage for the 2014–2020 programming period

The article focuses on the strategic management of digitization in Lithuania. It elaborates on the development process of a conceptual approach to the creation of seamless content of the digital cultural heritage and presents the changing social context and a new paradigm of the legislation on the cultural heritage as well as its financing issues.The period of 2005–2009 should be considered a turning point in the cultural policy of Lithuania as the approval of the Concept for the Digitization of the Lithuanian Cultural Heritage and the Strategy for the Digitization of the Lithuanian Cultural Heritage, Digital Content Preservation and Access and its Implementation Framework in 2009–2013 by the Lithuanian government, which resulted in a new paradigm for the consolidation of memory institutions, oriented to cross-sectoral collaboration in digitizing Lithuania’s cultural heritage. These documents also provided more possibilities to receive financial support from the State budget and the EU Structural Funds for the digitization of the national cultural heritage and its long-term preservation and access. The major unsolved problems of the previous period have evolved from the inappropriate interpretation of strategic documents within the institutional environment. When interpreting these documents, conservative non-compatible institutional models were applied for strategic managing. Therefore, digitization was carried out without fully evaluating the social context and consolidating resources, thus resulting in poor quality digitization products, which were unrelated and satisfied the needs of institutions rather than of the users.The environment of the strategic management in the new programming period of 2014–2020 is shaped by the development of the network society, as it is defined by social sciences, the experience of the previous strategic period, and the highest level strategic documents defining the new period. The article also introduces the experience of the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania and Vilnius University’s Faculty of Communication, activities by these and other twenty main cultural institutions of Lithuania in the development of the cultural and information society policy and the strategic management of cultural heritage digitization, and initiatives within these activities for the 2014–2020 programming period.

Innovation as a strategic choice at the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

Like libraries and librarianship in general, the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek (DNB) has in recent years been confronted with technology-driven changes in the information environment. These changes mean a considerable challenge in terms of the mandate of the DNB and the way to fulfill it. To cite one important example: how will DNB deal with a collection mandate extended to digital publications of all kinds, including the obligation to record these publications and make them available for current and future generations? How does it manage to remain a highly visible lighthouse in the seas of data and information? This will not happen accidentically, but will be the result of careful planning, determined actions, and continuous monitoring, based on a clear strategy and a systematic approach, and it means that processes and functions will have to be revised, terminated or newly established. The DNB has always considered itself as an innovative institution – the necessity to be open for recurring innovations and to initiate such developments has become more and more urgent. The DNB has, therefore, started a strategic process in 2013 to respond to this requirement. This process is new to the institution and its members and demands a lot of learning and preparation. A major first step was the definition of strategic goals for the years 2013 to 2016, complemented by a project for organizational development. These goals help the DNB to focus itself and they serve as a guideline for prioritizing projects and tasks. Examples for strategic priorities are a substantial increase in the collection of digital and web resources, development and implementation of automated cataloguing processes, stepping up digitization efforts, and building up an infrastructure for long-term preservation of digital content. However, there are other areas to be attended to and other challenges to be met – the strategic process and the organizational development are, for DNB, tools to continuously follow-up on innovation. This article intends to address the topic coming from two directions: On the one hand we describe the process development in DNB, and on the other hand we name examples and working areas, which might be relevant factors to successfully master the future.

Jump-Start Your Career as a Digital Librarian

The title of this book might lead you to believe that it is a “how-to” for librarians who are just starting their professional careers. It is not. The book offers something for everyone—even those librarians who are not at all interested in making a career change. Jump-Start Your Career as a Digital Librarian is a compilation of twelve chapters written by professional librarians. The book is organized into two parts: “Part 1: Planning Your Career” and “Part 2: Practicing Your Career.” Part 1 defines digital librarianship and describes the work of digital librarians. It goes on to offer practical advice on how to get a new career in digital librarianship off to a good a start. The chapter, “Getting the Most out of Library School,” provides guidance for students who intend to work in the field of digital librarianship. The author advises potential digital librarians that they may need to design their own program of study in library school and points out the importance of networking, both in person and virtually, and staying abreast of technology. “Landing Your First Job” reinforces time-honored advice on what to expect in the search for a job. For practicing librarians, chapter 4 addresses “Making a Career Shift.” Monson identifies skills from traditional librarian specialties (technical services, archives, reference/instruction, access) that transfer to digital librarianship. Chapter 5, “Furthering Your Career,” provides information for librarians who are not planning on changing their career, but who want to upgrade their skills or broaden their horizons with strategies such as seeking a mentor, joining professional organizations, or pursuing continuing education. The chapters in part 2 are not so specifically targeted. The content in these chapters is more technical in nature with titles that run along the lines of “Understanding Key Technology Concepts,” “Learning about Metadata,” and “Putting Metadata into Practice.” The author covers topics from the effects of digital librarianship on scholarly publishing to the preservation of digital content. She gives readers a view of the working environment of digital librarianship with a sampling of the discipline's need-to-know terms and the dynamics of collaborating with a group involved in a digital project. The information in these chapters is beneficial to the library school student who is planning on following the digital librarianship career path and practicing librarians who might not have been exposed to the world of digital librarianship when they were in library school. Jump-Start Your Career as a Digital Librarian is easy to read. Each chapter includes references, recommended resources, and a feature that I really like, a “Final Thoughts” section to wrap up the theme of the chapter. The book includes a glossary and an index. While this book does not have clinical value and is not one that would be included in a medical library collection, I highly recommend it for any librarian who wants to become familiar with the basic concepts of the field of digital librarianship.

Several Factors of Library Publishing Services Facilitate Scholarly Communication Functions

Objective – To identify and examine the factors of library publishing services that facilitate scholarly communication.
 
 Design – Analysis of library publishing service programs.
 
 Setting – North American research libraries.
 
 Subjects – Eight research libraries selected from the signatories for the Compact for Open-Access Publishing Equity (COPE) Cornell University Library’s Center for Innovative Publishing; Dartmouth College Library’s Digital Publishing Program and Scholars Portal Project; MIT Libraries’ Office of Scholarly Publishing and Licensing; Columbia University Libraries’ Center for Digital Research and Scholarship; University of Michigan Library’s Scholarly Publishing Office; Duke University Library’s Office of Scholarly Communications; University of Calgary Libraries and Cultural Resources’ Centre for Scholarly Communication; and Simon Fraser University Library’s Scholarly Publishing.
 
 Methods – The authors used Roosendaal and Geurt’s (1997) four functions of scholarly communication to analyze and categorize library publishing services provided by libraries included in the study. The four functions of scholarly communication include registration, certification, awareness, and archiving.
 
 Main Results – Analysis of the registration functions provided by library publishing services in this study revealed three types of facilitating factors: intellectual property, licensing, and publishing. These include services such as repositories for digital scholarly work and research, ISBN/ISSN registration, and digital publishing. Analysis of archiving functions demonstrated that most programs in the study focus on repository-related services in support of digital content preservation of papers, datasets, technical reports, etc. Analysis of certification functions provided by these services exposed a focus on expert review and research support. These include services like professional assessment of information sources, consultation on appropriate literature and information-seeking tools, and writing or copyright advisory services. Analysis of awareness function showed search aids and knowledge-sharing platforms to be the main facilitating factors. These include services like metadata application, schema, and standards or scholarly portals enabling knowledge-sharing among scholars.
 
 Conclusion – This study identified several services offered by these library publishing programs which can be categorized as facilitators under Roosendaal and Geurt’s (1997) four functions of scholarly communication. The majority of the libraries in the study treated library publishing services as part of broader scholarly communication units or initiatives. Digital publishing (registration function) was offered by all programs analyzed in the study, while traditional peer-review services (certification function) were not. Widely adopted among programs in the study were the use of social networking tools (awareness function) and self-publishing (archiving function). The authors recommend developing services that facilitate peer review and assert the need to provide a knowledge-sharing mechanism within the academic community that facilitates the scholarly communication process.