Practical Aspects of Preservation Peter Simpson Development Officer Arts and Humanities Data Service

Choice is trouble… [Old Dutch Proverb] Digitisation process is all about making the right choices for your particular needs: Creation Management Collection development Access Re-use

Helping hand… Advice and support Website Online forum Technical standards and guidelines Workshops

Preservation – optional or imperative? To facilitate continued access to and use of the digital materials you’re creating, digital preservation needs to start right now In fact…it should have been a guiding factor in most of the choices you’ve made so far

NOF Digitise Technical Standards and Guidelines 1 “…it is important to secure the long-term future of materials so that the benefit of the investment is maximised, and the cultural record is maintained in its historical continuity and media diversity.”

NOF Digitise Technical Standards and Guidelines 2 “Preservation issues must be considered an integral part of the digitisation process. Preservation will depend upon documenting all of the technological procedures that led to the creation of an object, and this – in many cases – can only be done at the point of creation.”

NOF Digitise Technical Standards and Guidelines 3 “Projects must consider the value in creating a fully documented high quality ‘digital master’ from which all other versions can be derived. This will help with the periodic migration of data and with the development of new products and resources.”

NOF Digitise Technical Standards and Guidelines 4 “…it [preservation] should be seen as a fundamental management responsibility for those who own and manage digital information content, ensuring its long-term use and re-use. This depends upon a variety of factors that are outside of the digitisation process itself, e.g. things like institutional stability, continued funding and the ownership of intellectual property rights.”

The role of the creator in digital preservation “To the extent that creators of digital information accept initial responsibility for archiving their objects, they may begin to see the wisdom of incorporating […] provisions for preservation as an integral part of the process or system that generates digital information.” US Task Force on the Archiving of Digital In formation (1996)

The role of the creator in digital preservation 2 Creators of digital objects have the initial and in some cases a continuing role in preserving access to them. They are they the first ‘managers’ of preservation “Unless creators take initial steps to facilitate ongoing access to their material, access may be lost or the ability of another body to take responsibility for preserving access may be severely inhibited.” National Library of Australia: statement of principles for the preservation of and long-term access to Australian digital objects

Preservation in a nutshell Maintaining the bit stream Making sure it can be discovered Providing access pathways Ensuring required functionality Providing meaningful contextual information

What does it all mean for me? Practical implementation of preservation at project level perhaps needs some clarification different resources may need different levels of preservation. variety of preservation strategies available management issues to be addressed creators may not be willing/able to accept long-term preservation responsibility

Taking action… Working out/defining preservation responsibilities and establishing dialogue with other stakeholders Examining/ensuring familiarity with key preservation issues directly affecting access, re-use and resource sustainability over time

Defining preservation responsibilities 1 Creators who are unable or unwilling to accept the responsibility of long-term preservation will need to negotiate with collecting institutions and archives to provide this service for them There may be specific ingest criteria with which they need to comply There may be rights issues to settle It will cost

Other creators (such as universities, library and local council consortia) may already have a strong interest in, and be well positioned to take responsibility for providing long-term access to their own digital material.

Defining preservation responsibilities 2 All projects need to recognise the importance of effective communication Various stakeholders have a role to play in the life cycle of a resource The negotiated cooperation of all those involved in the generation, use, management, distribution and preservation of digital objects is essential to arrive at implementable preservation solutions

2 preservation topics to consider Rights management Data documentation and standards

Rights management Copyright and other intellectual property right (IPR) restrictions can affect the preservation of access to digital information by limiting the application of available of preservation strategies Consideration may need to be given not only to who ‘owns’ content but also to authorship/ ownership of any associated software

It is remarkably easy to infringe IPR Copying (refreshing) digital materials onto another medium. Encapsulating content and software for emulation. Migrating content to new hardware and software. All these preservation procedures involve activities that could be classed as infringements unless rights holders have been consulted (or statutory exemptions exist).

Why so complex? Probably worth remembering the ease with which digital information may be reproduced, manipulated and accessed by multiple users through networks. Obvious security and integrity issues here.

Data documentation Essential to the effective “exchange [of] information and documents between platforms and individuals” [ Workbook ] Minimum requirements: Contextual information (provenance/history) Information about content Information about structure Information about terms and conditions attached to management and use

Standards Using stable open standards can: Delay the need for more costly preservation strategies Reduce complexity – relatively small number of standard formats easier to manage Simplify migration Simplify collaboration between creators, institutions and sectors

Problems… Technology is moving so quickly that by the time standards are formally endorsed they are already out of date Commercial competition can foster the development of proprietary extensions to (or implementations of) standards that can dilute the benefits of consistency and interoperability for preservation purposes. Standards themselves are open to change and adaptation Implementation can be a drain on resources

Open Standards need to be seen as another ingredient in the mix of available preservation strategies. Still offer important benefits, but don’t amount to a standalone solution.

Using case-studies and case- study scenarios Case-studies - allow you to learn from the methods and approaches of other successful creators, thus avoiding digitisation pitfalls and benefiting from best practice Case-study scenarios - allow you to explore real preservation and access issues arising from the digitisation process, but in a fictional context.

Arts and Humanities Data Service