Digital Preservation Policy & Strategy: Where Do I Start?

Athenaeum2lChristine Madsen & Megan Hurst@[email protected]

December 7 2016 | NISO & NFAIS Virtual Conference

Digital Preservation Policy & Strategy: Where Do I Start?

www.athenaeum21.com © Athenaeum21

Athenaeum21: Who We Are

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Megan Hurst, MLIS, MFA Co-Founder, Chief Experience Officer & Head of US Operations@MHzUX

Christine Madsen, MLIS, DPhil Co-Founder, Chief Innovation Officer & Head of UK Operations@mccarthymadsen

Expertise • Web & SaaS Product Development & Management• Agile Software Development• Optimization for Multi-Channel Publishing

(web, mobile, audio, video, print)• Assessment of Digital Services• User Experience Research & Design

Work Experience MIDIOR Consulting, Harvard, EBSCO, Athenaeum21

Expertise • Information Management Systems• Data Management Strategy • Data Preservation• Process Design & Management• Information Conversion (Physical to

Digital)

Work ExperienceUCSD, Harvard, Oxford, Bodleian, Athenaeum21

Our Philosophy

High-quality data and information is fundamental to human agency, citizenship, scholarship, research, enterprise, and government.

Human use and access to data and information determines its value.

Data and information are valuable assets, and should be managed as such.

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Contents

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Digital Preservation Policy & Strategy

1.Why

2.What

3.How

http://www.atheaneum21.com/

Why Digital Preservation?

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LOTS of

Data

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1.Increasing quantity 2.Increasing variety3.Increasing pressure to preserve


How do you make these decisions?

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Rules vs. Framework

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NOT about giving you the rules to decide

what to keep vs. what to toss

ABOUT providing a

framework for understanding what decisions

to make


The answers about what “to keep” and what “to toss” differ for each institution

However,

The PRINCIPLES of how to make these decisions are the same.

First Principle

s



“we just need a digital repository”

Or

“we should take an emulation approach rather than a migration approach”

Common Traps



Saving time and money

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• Think about your strategy and policies• Start with a basic plan• What do you want to do? • What is the mission of your organization?• What are its goals?


“a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim”

So, in order to create a strategy, you need to know what your aim is

Strategy First



a digital preservation strategy is about supporting your institution in its goals and mission through the preservation of digital data and artefacts.

So, what are the mission and goals of your organization?

Basic Premise



a clear connection between the goals of your organization and the digital preservation activities in which you are engaging

So, then what is a policy?

Strategy



A policy is there to help staff adhere to and/or contribute to the strategy Policy



A Policy Should Provide:

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• The people on the ground with the answers to ‘should I keep this? Or toss it?’

• A cost-effective way for people to make decisions.

• The CONFIDENCE to make decisions on their own without having to check with a bunch of people.

• Some clarity for end-users about why you are making certain decisions


• Break the work into bite-sized pieces

• Stay focused on defining the problem BEFORE deciding on a solution

Why the separatio

n?



Taxonomy of Topics (From LoC Review - 2013)

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Access and UseAccessioning and IngestAuditBibliographyCollaborationContent ScopeGlossary/TerminologyMandatesMetadata or DocumentationPolicy/Strategy ReviewPreservation Model/ Strategy

Preservation PlanningRights and Restriction ManagementRoles and ResponsibilitiesSecurity ManagementSelection/AppraisalStaff Training/EducationStorage, Duplication, and BackupSustainability Planning

http://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2013/08/analysis-of-current-digital-preservation-policies-archives-libraries-and-museums/


http://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2013/08/analysis-of-current-digital-preservation-policies-archives-libraries-and-museums/


tackles too much at once conflates three different

things makes the task overwhelming has the wrong people making

the decisions at the wrong level

The Problem


Solution: Break the task into three parts


Collaboration Content Scope Mandates Policy/Strategy Review Sustainability Planning

1Strategy



Access and Use Metadata or Documentation Preservation Model/ Strategy Preservation Planning Rights and Restriction

Management Selection/Appraisal Staff Training/Education

2Policy



Accessioning and Ingest Audit Roles and Responsibilities Security Management Storage, Duplication, and

Backup

3Operatio

ns



Strategy = senior leadershipPolicy = managers - the people who have contact with your user baseOperations = techies - the people on the ground

People



Strategy = revise every 10 years Policy = every 3-5 years Operations = review annually and revise as needed

Shelf Life



3 Essential Things

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• Technology -- most people focus here and people want a shiny solution, even if it is expensive. But the technology should be the end-point, not the beginning.

• Organizational support -- people have to believe this is critical to the mission and goals of an organization and that is why a strategy that makes that connection explicitly is important.

• Resources -- and those resources need to be both human and financial


Human & Financial Resources

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• You need a team of committed people at all three of these levels → strategy, policy, and operations

• You need a budget• And advocacy at all levels


3 part approachto digital preservation

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Strategy

Policy

Digital Preservation

Operations

Tech-nologyPeople

A Good Strategic ApproachCan Make things MORE Preservable(in addition to reinforcing organisational mission & strategy)


“if we start collecting digital research data to preserve, do we also need to start preserving the software that was used to create and manipulate the dataset?”

Common Question

s



“What are the significant properties of any given object?” And how do they fit with what we are trying to achieve?

Are the methods new? Or are just the research outputs important?

Better Question



Is yours an organization that collects the raw materials of research?

Do you have as part of your mission to preserve the process of scholarship (archives, manuscripts, etc.) or do you only collect the outputs?

If the latter, why would you start now?

Better Question



Engaging with Researchers

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• Engage in a conversation about the significant properties of their digital outputs

• And help them understand how separating the data from the interface can have a significant impact on the preservability of their research data.

Content Interface

SCENE I. DUKE ORSINO's palace.

Enter DUKE ORSINO, CURIO, and other Lords; Musicians attending

DUKE ORSINOIf music be the food of love, play on;Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,The appetite may sicken, and so die.That strain again! it had a dying fall:O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,That breathes upon a bank of violets,Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,That, notwithstanding thy capacityReceiveth as the sea, nought enters there,Of what validity and pitch soe'er,But falls into abatement and low price,Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancyThat it alone is high fantastical.





Content Interface

SCENE I. DUKE ORSINO's palace.

Enter DUKE ORSINO, CURIO, and other Lords; Musicians attending

DUKE ORSINOIf music be the food of love, play on;Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,The appetite may sicken, and so die.That strain again! it had a dying fall:O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet sound,That breathes upon a bank of violets,Stealing and giving odour! Enough; no more:'Tis not so sweet now as it was before.O spirit of love! how quick and fresh art thou,That, notwithstanding thy capacityReceiveth as the sea, nought enters there,Of what validity and pitch soe'er,But falls into abatement and low price,Even in a minute: so full of shapes is fancyThat it alone is high fantastical.


What is important or unique? Is it really the software? Can it be designed in such a

way to separate them easily? Software becomes out of

date in 12-24 months Data should last!

Software vs Data



Wherever possible - separate the data from the interface

And use your strategy / policy / operations documents to frame these conversation on a daily basis.

StrategyPolicy

Operations



Thank You!

Athenaeum2lwww.athenaeum21.com

Christine Madsen (UK) [email protected]

@mccarthymadsen

Megan Hurst (US)[email protected]

@MHzUX


http://www.athenaeum21.com/

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