1

The Impact of Digital The Impact of Digital Preservation on Organizations:Preservation on Organizations:

A Policy PerspectiveA Policy Perspective

Erpatraining

Policies for Digital Preservation

John McDonaldJanuary 29-30, 2002

2

ObjectivesObjectives

• To use a Canadian government study on information management as a case study to illustrate:• The complexity of the digital landscape that exists in

many modern organizations.• The challenges presented by this landscape for the

development and implementation of information policy (and, by extension, digital preservation policies).

• The potential of capability and maturity models to help us move forward.

3

The IM Situation Analysis The IM Situation Analysis StudyStudy

• A one year study (2000) sponsored by Treasury Board Secretariat and the National Archives (the lead agencies responsible for government-wide IM).

• Triggers?• Government On-line.• The ‘E-mail’ issue.• The preservation of electronic corporate memory

• Method• Interviews with program officials at all levels and IM

specialists from a variety of disciplines. • Review of experiences around the world.

4

The IM Situation Analysis The IM Situation Analysis Study - ResultsStudy - Results

• Establishment of an IM unit in Treasury Board Secretariat to address life cycle management of information (emphasis on digital).

• Heightened profile for role of National Archives and National Library (both institutions recently merged).

• Development of Treasury Board Policy on Management of Government Information (MGI).

5

The MGI PolicyThe MGI Policy

• Federal government departments/agencies required to manage information throughout its life cycle.

• All forms of recorded information are covered.• Accountability assigned to a senior executive.

6

The MGI Policy (cont.)The MGI Policy (cont.)

• Institutions must make plans to:• Implement an IM program.• Integrate information management into the design of

government activities ...• Include human and financial resources needs and IM

requirements at an early stage …• Optimize the use of existing information and make plans for its

use beyond immediate business needs.• Maintain the authenticity, integrity and currency of information

for as long as the information is required.

7

The MGI Policy (cont.)The MGI Policy (cont.)

• To support this commitment for electronic information, government departments/agencies must:• Integrate the management of electronic information into IM

programs; • Create and use metadata … to provide context and allow

easy access and retrieval and understanding of the information over time and through changes in technology…;

• Assign accountability and establish control mechanisms to ensure the authenticity of electronic information through time.

8

The MGI PolicyThe MGI Policy

• The MGI policy is an integral component of an overall infrastructure for the management of information.• Digital preservation is an integral component of the

infrastructure.

9

Understanding the IM infrastructure is based on ...

… understanding the organization and its business

Organization

Function/activity

Law

Acc

oun

tabi

lity

Man

date Business processtask task task

Business View

task

12

Understanding the IM infrastructure

…begins with understanding the activities performed on information

13

Create InformationCreate Information

• Activities organizations do to manifest information - bring it into existence - in order to support program/service delivery

• create, collect, generate, receive

14

Use InformationUse Information

• Activities organizations do with their information.

• access, exchange, transmit, disseminate, share

15

Preserve Information Preserve Information

• Activities organizations do to their information to ensure that it is authentic, reliable; available, understandable, and usable for as long as required.

• retain, protect, store, describe, migrate, dispose

Business

Process

En

abli

ng

Law

s an

d P

oli

cies

IM Infrastructure

Policies Systems

Standards/practices

People

create use

preserve

Man

dat

es a

nd

Acc

ou

nta

bil

itie

s

18

ConsiderationsConsiderations

Two kinds of policies: Those that pertain to information activities (create, use,

preserve) Those that pertain to the management of the

infrastructure

Both kinds may be resident in the same policy instrument.

Policy addresses all of the activities performed on information. Preservation is an integral component of the activities performed

on information

19

BUT!!!

Its one thing to have a policy and a vision of an infrastructure

Its quite another to see them implemented consistently

20

Impact of the organization Impact of the organization on policy developmenton policy development

The complexity of the landscape and the diversity of the communities responsible for information management can present a considerable challenge.

The landscape comprises three environments: structured environment unstructured environment web environment

Mandate

Land Management• Rural Land Development• Urban Land Development• Lands Registration

• applications• review

• Land Use Analysis• Regulation • Administration

Functions

Organization

• National Land Management Directorate• urban development division• rural development division

• Office of the Registrar of Lands • Research and Mapping Directorate• Policy and Monitoring Directorate • Corporate Services Directorate

Ministry of Lands

taskreview approval notification

B u s i n e s s P r o c e s s

transactions transactions transactions

task task

Structured Environment

repository

preserveaccess

AccountabilityInstrument

InformationSource

Info objects

Info objects

content

context

structure

Info objects

capturecapture capture

22

The Structured EnvironmentThe Structured Environment

• Highly structured business processes; assigned accountability; rigorous approach to systems design and development.

• Emerged from the heavily controlled ‘mainframe’ environment that supported large application systems.

• Policies in place to govern systems development and management but they may not account for assignment of accountability for retention and long term preservation.

• Standards and practices in place for systems development and data management but they may not account for digital objects as evidence or the requirements for their long term preservation.

23

The Structured EnvironmentThe Structured Environment

• Database specialists are in place to manage the integrity of data, but they may not understand ‘information management’ concepts such as authenticity, evidence, and preservation.

DatabaseManagement

Web Content

Management

RecordsManagement

Publications/Communications

Management

The People Dimension

Archives

LibraryServices

Info object Info objectInfo object

actions actions actions

Land Management• Rural Land Development• Urban Land Development• Lands Registration

• applications• review

• Land Use Analysis• Regulation • Administration

Organization

• National Land Management Directorate• urban development division• rural development division

• Office of the Registrar of Lands • Research and Mapping Directorate• Policy and Monitoring Directorate • Corporate Services Directorate

Ministry of Lands

Functions

Mandate

Unstructured Environment

C:\ C:\ C:\

26

The Unstructured EnvironmentThe Unstructured Environment

• Poorly defined work processes few rules of the road; weak accountability.

• Personal computers emerged from a garage to serve as ‘personal support utilities’.

• Program managers are complaining about the e-mail issue but not prepared to deal with it.

• Issues extend across the life cycle - not just retention and preservation.

• Records management policies in place, but:• Few assign accountability for electronic records management.• Many address paper records only.

27

The Unstructured EnvironmentThe Unstructured Environment

• Electronic record keeping systems are available but they are still ‘new technology’.

• The absence of records management controls threatens the ability of archives to appraise information objects for their archival value.

• Records managers and archivists are in place, but struggling to build and implement solutions

DatabaseManagement

Publications/Communications

ManagementWeb

ContentManagement

The People Dimension

LibraryServices

RecordsManagement

Archives

29

Web pagespublicationsandcommunications

email

forms

30

The web environmentThe web environment

• Policies pertain to ‘publishing’ and ‘communications’.

• Standards and practices based on web content management (re: publishing and communications).

• Systems are in place (based on content management software) but may not address retention and preservation adequately.

31

The web environmentThe web environment

• Program managers view the web as a publishing and communications tool; sensitivity about value and long term preservation may be poor.

• Web masters govern the environment but may not be familiar with authenticity requirements and the long term preservation of web content.

• Librarians and communications staff may be ‘in the loop’ but sensitivity to long term preservation issues may not be high (because the information may be of short to medium term interest).

• Relatively few are thinking about the implications of the evolution to a transactions-based environment.

LibraryServices

DatabaseManagement

Archives

Web ContentManagement

Publications/Communications

Management

The People Dimension

RecordsManagement

33

Some QuestionsSome Questions

Should digital preservation policies stand on their own or should they be integrated into broader IM policies? how should the scope of digital preservation policies be

defined?

How do we ensure that policies are relevant to the reality of the landscape just described?

How can we assess the impact of the often complex landscape on the policy development process?

How can we undertake such an assessment when we are dealing with a ‘moving target’?

34

Getting to there from here?Getting to there from here?

The role of capability models

35

Capability ModelsCapability Models

• First developed for the software industry.• Later adapted by the financial management community.• More recently used to assess e-government initiatives.• Studies in 2002 resulted in:

• The development and testing of an IM Capacity Check by the National Archives of Canada

• The preparation of a research paper by the Public Policy Forum on capability models for records management

• The establishment of an initiative by the International Records Management Trust and the World Bank to develop a maturity model for use in developing countries

• All of the above address preservation including the preservation of information in electronic form.

36

Capability Models - ExampleCapability Models - Example

• Level 1: An infrastructure for managing information is not in place. Information is created, used and retained based on protocols established by individuals or work groups.

• Level 2: An infrastructure is in place for controlling the retention, protection, and disposition of information. However, the relationship between the management of information and business needs is weak.

• Level 3: An infrastructure is in place to ensure that information is created to support business activities, that information is able to be accessed and retrieved effectively and that it is retained and disposed of according to corporately approved standards and in compliance with laws and policies. The relationship between information management and business needs is strong.

• Level 4: An infrastructure is in place to ensure that the right information in authentic and reliable form is provided to the right person at the right time in the right format at a reasonable cost.

• Level 5: An infrastructure is in place to exploit information to meet the needs of a knowledge-based organization and its clients and partners.

37

Maturity ModelsMaturity Models

• To what extent is an assessent of the maturity/capability of the organization’s infrastructure (including policy) ...

• … dependent upon an assessment of the maturity levels of the business of the organization itself?

38

SummarySummary

• One size may not fit all.• Distinct policies may be required for distinct environments

(though ideally based on general corporate-wide policy rooted in business-driven principles).

• Multiple standards may be required to respond to distinct needs of individual environments.

• Human resources tools and techniques may be required to address the distinct communities supporting the environments.

• Work underway on capability and maturity models may help.