introduction to the ctda

The Connecticut Digital Archive:Preservation and Presentation Services for Cultural Heritage Organizations

March, 2014

The Dilemma of Modern Records

How do we insure that resources that exist in digital form

today will reliably exist and be accessible in the future?

2???2014

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• Digital representations of analog originals

• Born digital objects with no inherent “original “form

• Still Images

• Data Sets

• Documents

• Moving Images

• Complex objects

Digital repositories organize data…

..allow it to be used in

one environment …

… and reused in

another.

-James Gleick, The Information: A History, A Theory, A Flood (2011)

"When it was made simple, counted in bits,

information was found to be everywhere”

"It is not just about the data, it is about the story"

-Arianna Huffington (2012)

Content = Data

Analog = Non-existent

Unconnected = Invisible

Reuseable = Valuable

Storytelling = Visualization

Five Equations of the Cultural Record

Four “-ities” of Digital Repositories

• Sustainability

The digital object can be maintained and accessed over

time

• Authenticity

The digital object is reliably true to the original

• Interoperability

The ability of one standards-based object to be used in any

other standards-based system

• Reusability

Objects can be used in ways not related to original purpose

Connecticut’s digital cultural heritage is:

• Ephemeral

• Fragmented

• Not easily discoverable or reusable

What is the CTDA?

• A service of the University of Connecticut Libraries

• A partnership with the Connecticut State Library

• Preserves, manages, and makes available

permanently valuable digital data produced and

collected at UConn, Connecticut State agencies, and

cultural heritage organizations throughout the state

• The service hub in Connecticut for the Digital Public

Library of America

Use Only What You Need:

• No particular administrative workflow or end-user

application is assumed or required.

• No particular catalog or organizational scheme is

assumed or required.

• Any number of indices and views, designed for specific

purposes, both administrative and public facing, can be

applied to any pattern of components or objects.

Content in Action

UConn Archives CT State Library CHO Alternate Presentation Layer(s)

Alternate Management Layer(s)

Preservation Services*

• Secure, redundant storage

• up to 500GB without charge

• Preservation activities

• Migration (for supported file types)

• Verification

• Authenticity guarantees

*Note: Some services are fee-based

Presentation Services*

• Viewers for supported file types

• Web search engine indexing

• OAI-PMH harvesting

• Indexing in the Digital Public Library of America

• Inclusion in Connecticut History Online (for content you specify)

• Open APIs for indexing, content extraction, and viewer re-use

• Islandora site scoped to organizational content

*Note: Some services are fee-based

Ownership vs Stewardship

• Organizations retain ownership of all metadata, primary

content objects and derivatives.

• Metadata contributed as a CC0 license

• Content objects and derivatives may have access

restrictions—to master files for example

• Administrative interface available for managing content

For More Information

Contact the CTDA at:

ctda@uconn.edu