applying traditional principles of authenticity and trust to digital archives at lse
DESCRIPTION
With Sue Donnelly, Ellie Robinson Presentation to Archives and Records Association conference, 31 August 2012TRANSCRIPT
Sue Donnelly, ArchivistEllie Robinson, Digital ArchivistEd Fay, Digital Library Manager
Trust: applying traditional principles of authenticity and trust
to digital archives at LSE Library
What is Trust?
Trust in the past
Trust in a digital world
Royal Economic Society
• Founded 1889
• Began depositing at LSE in 1979
• Moved to digital submission of journal articles in c.2007
Press for Change
• Founded 1992
• Worked with government on legislation:o Gender Recognition Act 2004o Equality Act 2010
• Deposited archive in 2012o arrived on 4gb memory stick
A Day in the Life of a USB Stick
What we do and how we stay authentic
Accessioning part 1: intellectual
Accessioning part 2: physical
Write-blocking
The USB stickMains power source
USB 2.0 connection to PC
Virus checking
Imaging
Imaging
Profiling
Normalising
*.wpd Xena *.odt
Metadata
• Technical, preservation, descriptive• Some automated, some not• Multi-purpose – to support preservation in
the long term but also to track ownership, rights.
Metadata example
Trustworthy Digital Repository
Trustworthy Digital Repository Elephant
“Digital preservation is
the elephant in the room...”
“...eat it one bite at a time.”
Eating the Trustworthy Digital Elephant
Phased development of technical infrastructure, staff skills
LSE Digital Library
Making the case: articulating value• Benefits and risks
o Strategic alignment• Evidence base
oWe understand our problemsoWe can propose achievable solutions
• Context and terminologyo Key messages, but for whom?
• Importance of internal stakeholders
Making the case: articulating value• Terminology
o Persistent accesso Long-term availabilityo Digital continuity/stewardshipo Indefinite retentiono Protection of investmento Legal complianceo Competition, reputation, embarrassment
Insufficient backups
Making the case: risk register
Loss of trust or
reputation
Activity overlooked or under
resourced
Media degradation
or obsolescenc
e Loss of essential
characteristics
Infrastructure cannot support
requirements
Failure of authenticity,
integrity, provenance
Inadequate staff skills
Cannot implement
preservation plans
The Iceberg Model of Digital Libraries
interfaces
collections/objects
workflows
systems
storage
digital preservation
Roles and responsibilities• Innovation vs service development
o Core skills and focuso Embedding operational capacity
• Communicationo Bi-lateral (archivists/techies)o Confident in requirementso Long process of engagemento Interesting IT challenges
Roles and responsibilities
Archive Services Collection developmentDescriptionPreservation
Digital Library TeamPolicySkills / expertiseInnovation / projects
Academic ServicesCollection developmentInformation skills training
Collection ServicesPreservationDescriptionInfrastructure
Senior Management• Strategy• Resources
Archive Services • Collection development• Description• Preservation
Digital Library Team• Policy• Skills / expertise• Innovation / projects
Academic Services• Collection development• Information skills training
Collection Services• Preservation• Description• Infrastructure
Trust and collaboration• Comparator analysis (vs conformance)
• ‘Prioritising’ OAIS/TRACo Know what is most important for youoMove in the right directiono ‘Better’ rather than ‘best’ practice
• Shared infrastructure or services (?)
Trustable Digital Repository
“The trustworthy digital
repository is the elephant
in the room...”
“...approach with caution.”
Trustable Digital Repository• Sufficient investment
o Necessary skills/time/infrastructureo Key drivers: provenance, authenticityo Plan to scale, don’t plan to do it all now
• ‘Better’ rather than ‘best’ practiceo Continuous improvemento Aiming towards maturity of practiceo Not trying to get there in one goo This will take years...
SPRUCEa project to inspire, guide, support and enable UK HEIs to
address preservation gaps; and to use the knowledge gathered from that support work to articulate a compelling business case for digital preservation
• Events: digital preservation solutions• Embedding: grants to continue work• Business case: benefits, skills gaps
http://dpconline.org/advocacy/spruce
Conclusions
• Trust isn’t a new issuebut the lack of standards is
• Need to learn by practicegetting hands on with the materials
• Keep talking develop engagement and ways of communicating requirements
“I [trust] LSE [Digital] Library”
Trust is slow to earn...
...and quick to burn
Useful linksOut of the Box (LSE Archives blog)http://lib-1.lse.ac.uk/archivesblog/?tag=digital-archives
Sustainable Preservation Using Community Engagementhttp://dpconline.org/advocacy/spruce
You've Got to Walk Before You Can Run: First Steps for Managing Born-Digital Content Received on Physical Media (OCLC)
http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2012/2012-06r.html