Brad HoustonUniversity Records ArchivistUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

More records created since 1945 than during the 3000 years before that

90% of all of these new records are born-digital

Electronic records are ephemeral!

Electronic records are intangible!

Electronic records are decentralized! (multiple creators)

Result: massive challenges for institutional archivists

Give detailed instructions on setting up an electronic records program at your institution

Endorse or explain specific Records Management Applications (RMAs)

Tell you that your electronic records management system is WRONG

Pretend to be the last word on electronic records

Provide an overview of electronic records challenges

Examine how the “functions” of archival practice (appraisal, processing, access, etc.) change in light of electronic records

Provide some (not all) vital characteristics to look for in archival e-recs systems

Allow for lots of discussion and feedback at the end

UWM Archival Collection 200: University Communications and Media Relations Mixed media (mostly photographs),

including digital photos First ‘born-digital’ accession of material in

UWM Archives Processed Spring 2008 by UWM SOIS

fieldworker Mistakes were made by professional staff:

here’s how to avoid them!

Data or information that has been captured and fixed for storage and manipulation in an automated system and that requires the use of the system to render it intelligible by a person. (Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology)

“Strictly speaking, it is not possible to preserve an electronic record…” (Luciana Duranti)

Digitized: records scanned into the system for access or preservation purposes “Behaves” like analog records– usually

discrete, usually separable for RM purposes Born Digital: records created ‘on-line’

for electronic use, disposition Often linked to other records (e.g. in a

relational database), making it hard to separate/schedule

Requires unique identity of records Dates made, transmitted, received, filed Names of authors, addressee, recipient,

creatorsRequires provable integrity of records

Name of handling office Name of records custodian Indication of annotations, modification

actions Indication of technical modifications

Message: Is the content of the document adequately preserved?

Media: Is the storage medium durable enough to retain its integrity over time?

Metadata: Is there enough supplementary info to contextualize and prove authenticity of the document?

If you lose even one of these components of an electronic record, you have not adequately preserved it.

Make sure your records management program is up to date! Records Schedules! Electronic Document Management! Electronic Records Management!▪ Note: EDMS and ERMS are NOT the same!

Training, Workshops, Outreach!▪ Fundamental message: E-recs are records too!

Includes rules which govern: Which documents are eligible for inclusion Who inputs/removes records (“trusted

custodian”) How long records remain (Classification

system) How to remove expired records (retention

scheduling) Key function: guaranteeing ongoing

authenticity of records DoD 5015.2: U.S. standard for TRSs

Electronic records are tricky to deal with without RM, but by no means impossible Coordinate metadata collection/transfer

procedures with organization records manager

Work with targeted creators directly to encourage file organization

Talk to your IT dept., administration about RM utility, functional requirements

Received directly from Univ. Communications and media relations; maintained case file Chain of custody, context of digital photos

Submitted on CD-Rs along with analog photos Immutability of format suggests authenticity

Problem: no trusted recordkeeping system at UWM Authenticity is presumed, but not demonstrated

None active yet, but we’re working on it… UWM uses Xythos for shared file storage

EDMS capabilities should be enabled within year ERMS capabilities are DoD 5015.2 compliant,

but have not been discussed in detail yet Importance of “getting in on the ground

floor” Talk to your IT dept. about TRS requirements!

Knowledge Information Ecosystem Information Studies Documentary Forms in the Digital

EnvironmentSkills

Management Skills Technical Skills Soft Skills

How to survey mass quantities of e-records?

How to appraise series of interrelated e-recs?

How to prepare records for accession?

“Post-custodial era?”

Increased role of questionnaires/surveys

Przyblya and Huth: we should become partners and students of creators and IT staff

Swain: Appraise at series level, NOT item or folder level

Key point: understand how systems work to document transactions– appraisal follows naturally

Moving records from recordkeeping to preservation system

Based on work Wilczek and Glick did at Tufts and Yale

Involves creation of SIPs (Submission Information Packages) and AIPs (Archival Information Packages) Content information Preservation Description Information

Establish relationship, define project, collect information Creation of XML schema for records

Assess value, record types, formats, identification, copyright, access rights Create or modify policies for each of above

Assess recordkeeping system Assess feasibility of submission project Finalize submission agreement

Create and Transfer Submission Info Packs Includes: metadata, digital signatures,

transformation audit trailValidate SIPs and transform metadataFormulate Archival Info Packs and

create configuration rulesAssess AIPsFormally accession

Photos were transferred in 2006, so preliminary appraisal did not occur

Photos were grouped within CD-R by subject Within directories, often many shots of same

event from different angles, different lighting, etc.

Fieldworker grouped photographs within subject by event pictured, then sampled

Lessons learned: encourage better use of metadata by producers

Do traditional arrangement schemes apply? What constitutes an electronic “series”?

Is “folder-level description” meaningful?

Is “item-level description” practical? Search engine technology?

File name issues?File Format issues?What do we do with this metadata?

In some cases, directories=folders Item-level description possible for small

collections; directory-level will be more common

In other cases, entire database must be described and made available Access to Archival Databases (NARA)

Post-Custodial effect: encourage standardization among active users File naming, directory structure

Digital photos were treated the same as analog photos in description

Directory structure was already present for arrangement; file names inconsistent Less of a problem because of thumbnails

Arranged digital photos as separate series because of access issues

Very ad hoc process– should institute policy for next processing project

Problems with hardware and software obsolescence

Problems with file format obsolescence Physical storage necessities

Of the three, probably the least pressing problem

“There is a much greater assurance that 20 or 30 years from now , you’ll be able to find records from the Civil War than you will from anything that’s going on today. “—Amy Moran

Can you still read these?

1. Migration: Moving files to new systems on periodic basis

2. Emulation: creating programs to read original datastreams

CAMiLEON project, Univ. of Michigan3. Encapsulation: providing a framework

to read files within a discrete XML ‘wrapper’

The best solution, but also the most difficult

Why reformat? The usefulness (or not) of standards Are native formats viable? “It depends”

(h/t Susan Davis) A good stopgap solution, but should

not replace creation of preservation system

Consider usability of new format XML is ideal, but again requires most

work

Formats for textual records Text File (UNICODE encoding) Open Document Format (ODF) PDF and PDF/A

Formats for image records TIFF JPEG 2000

Formats for other A/V records AAF (Advanced Authoring Format)

After sampling, photos for preservation were converted to TIFF

TIFF preservation files currently stored on UWM Archives Dept. Server Probably not the best solution, but

acceptable Copies were made and converted to

JPEG for access copy Numerous mass-converters on market to do

this quickly

How will your users discover the files? Finding Aid as normal? Digital collection page?

How will your users get to the files? Web access vs. In-house access Direct access vs. access copies

How will e-recs access reorient your reference process?

“Reading-room only access to digital content is not the desired or expected access.”—Tim Pyatt Feasibility considerations of online access

Access copies Greater usability Short term: faster load time, familiar

interface Long term: use as a backup if data is lost

Reference will shift from searching-oriented to research-oriented questions

Finding aid notes in Use Restrictions field that access copies are available

Patrons are referred to CD on which access copy is found to view photos CD is for reading room use only

Volume of photos No web access… yet May add some to our Digital Collections in

future We treat these as analog for access–

may not be as useful down the road

Coordinate with your records management program before even THINKING archives

Encourage donors/creators to practice good arrangement processes with active files

Work with administration, IT dept. EARLY to develop requirements for recordkeeping

Use producers’ knowledge of file schemes to inform appraisal decisions

Develop policies to standardize process, add authority to solicitation

Consider digital preservation environment (Emulation? Migration? Transformation?)

Rethink concept of archival series– not necessarily analogous, esp. for born-digital!

Outreach, Outreach, Outreach! Did I mention outreach?

InterPARES project http://www.interpares.org/

Open Archival Information System Reference Guide http://public.ccsds.org/publications/

archive/650x0b1.pdfCAMiLEON project (Univ. of Michigan

and Univ. of Leeds) http://www.si.umich.edu/CAMILEON/

Fedora Project Ingest Guide http://dca.lib.tufts.edu/features/nhprc/reports/

ingest/index.html New Skills for a Digital Era– proceedings and case

studies http://rpm.lib.az.us/NewSkills/index.asp

PDF/A Competence Center http://www.pdfa.org

DoD 5015.2 RMA design criteria standard http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/corres/pdf/

501502std.pdf

Slides of this presentation will be available on the UWM Records Management website http://www.uwm.edu/Libraries/arch/recordsmgt/

education.html

Any other questions? Contact me: houstobn@uwm.edu 414-229-6979