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1
Digital Archives - Past, Present & Future Issues
Anne Van Camp
Manager, Member Initiatives
The Research Libraries Group
Digital Archives Directions (DADs) Workshop
June 22-26, 1998
2
What is RLG?
• 159 member institutionsUniversities, state and national archives, museums and galleries, national libraries, public and private research repositories, historical societies
• International compositionNorth America, UK and Ireland, Europe and Australia
3
What is RLG?
• Mission
To collaboratively solve problems of access and preservation to research resources
• Member programs and initiatives– Resource sharing– Preservation– Primary sources– Art, law and area studies
• Electronic information networkBibliographic database - over 100 million items: MARC records,
citation files, archival finding aids, digital objects.
4
Why is RLG a DADs Sponsor?
• We’re a stakeholder in the community trying to tackle preservation and access issues for digital information
• 25 years of experience working with our members to set standards and best practices in access and preservation
5
Problem Statement
• Digital archiving and its attendant issues are common across institutions and are international in scope
• Need for collaboration on descriptive standards; technology; legal and regulatory issues; storage criteria, etc.
• Need for coordination of effort to avoid duplication
• Need to share the research agenda
6
Preservation and Access - Past
1970s - early 1990s
• Brittle paper
• Disintegrating collections
• Localized resources– card catalogs– paper-based collection guides
• Descriptive cataloging
7
Chaos to Control• Brittle books and paper
– Solutions included microfilming, conservation, stabilization and led to the establishment of standards and best practices for reformatting
– Collaborative work produced manuals and other tools to promulgate best practices
– Guidelines then adopted by funding agencies and the community at large
• Access & Description– Birth of electronic catalogs to share information about
research resources and subsequently about preservation and reformatting activities
8
Preservation & Access - Present
Mid- to late 1990s
Overwhelmingly digital in nature• Digital preservation
• Magnetic media
• Metadata
• Web publications
• Electronic records
9
Chaos to Control
Establishment of the RLG/CPA Task Force on Digital Archiving: 1994
• Frame the key problems that need to be resolved for technology refreshing to be considered an acceptable approach to ensuring continuing access.
• Consider alternatives to technology refreshing. • Make other generic recommendations as appropriate.
10
Report Highlights
• Analysis of the digital landscape
• Creator responsibility
• Fail-safe mechanism to protect culturally valuable information
• Roles and responsibilities
• Strategies for migration
• Costs and financial matters.
11
Interesting Outcomes (1 of 2)
• the recommendation that creators take preservation responsibility
• specified preserving not just the DATA, but USE of the data
• the big challenges are mostly organizational issues
• information *about* the information is important
12
Interesting Outcomes (2 of 2)
• focus on things published in digital form
• the concept of certifying archives
• the concept of fail-safe, aggressive rescue
• there wasn't much feedback from the archival community
• transition from refreshment to migration
13
International Reaction
• JISC/BRITISH LIBRARY Workshop as part of the Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) Organized by UKOLN Nov. 1995
• Australian Working Party and National Preservation Office
14
RLG’s Priorities
• requirements and standards for describing and managing digital information
• standards, criteria, and mechanisms for digital archives
• coordination with international digital preservation initiatives
15
RLG Current Agenda
• Preservation Working Group on Digital Archiving– Survey of digital archiving needs– Examine and evaluate models for facilities– Develop guidelines for appraisal, selection, and priority setting for preserving
information in digital form
• Virtual collections projects• Training workshops for managing digital projects• RLG DigiNews• Metadata
– Metadata Summit– Working Group on Preservation Issues of Metadata– Working Group on Archival Metadata Issues
• Working Group on Preserving Magnetic Media
16
Strategic Alliances
• Alliances, both national and international– CLIR http://www.clir.org
– DLF http://www.clir.org/diglib/dlfhomepage.htm
– NPO http://www.bl.uk/npo
– TASi http://www.tasi.ac.uk
– AHDS http://ahds.ac.uk
– eLib http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib/
– CEI http://www.jisc.ac.uk/cei/
– CURL http://www.curl.ac.uk
– CNI http://www.cni.org
– National Library of Australia http://www.nla.gov.au
17
National and International Collaboration
• Learn from Colleagues• Test and extend new tools and models• Identify common problems and solutions• Agree on best practices• Benefit from shared products• Avoid duplication
18
Digital Archives - Future Issues• Economic models
– Share experience on projects and vendor relations
• Legal issues– Get smarter about protection of privacy while ensuring openness
– Establish basis for aggressive rescue
• Long-term storage issues– Establish criteria for certification of digital archive facilities
• International acceptance of metadata and preservation standards
• Achieve international inter-institutional interoperability
19
Useful URLs• RLG
http://www.rlg.org/ (US access)
http://www.thames.rlg.org (Int’l access)
• PRESERV Program:http://www.rlg.org/preserv/
• RLG DigiNews: http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/
• RLG/CPA Task Force on Archiving of Digital Informationhttp://www.rlg.org/ArchTF/