The Fundamentals of Preserving Knowledge Assets Pacific Neighborhood Consortium 2010 Catherine Quinlan, Dean of the USC Libraries USC's Dual Approach

 The University of Southern California  Preserving knowledge assets  Defining the academic knowledge asset  Digital collections  Physical collections  Next steps Outline

The University of Southern California  Faculty: 3,200  Staff: 10,800  Global alumni: 233,000  Endowment: $2.7 billion  Sponsored research: $560.9 million  U.S. News and World Report academic ranking: 23 rd in the U.S.

 Students  Undergraduates: 17,500  Graduate and professional: 19,500  24% of 2010 applicants accepted; middle 50% SAT range:  Top North American university for international students  7,987 enrolled  70% in graduate-level programs, most in engineering  From 110 countries; most from India and China The University of Southern California

Global offices  China  Hong Kong  Japan  Korea  Mexico  Taiwan International academic programs The University of Southern California

The USC Libraries  23 libraries and information centers, including health sciences  240 library faculty and staff  4.2 million volumes  E-resources—92,812 journals and 1,270 research databases

Defining the Academic Knowledge Asset  Content  Research value  Curricular relevance  Pre-publication research and data—additional mining and remixing  Institutional needs  University archives  Business records  Collections outside the libraries

Defining the Academic Knowledge Asset  Format agnostic  Printed materials  Born-digital works  Multimedia  Large data sets  Physical artifacts with cultural or historical value

1.Use existing infrastructure to develop additional capacity for digital collections  USC Libraries imaging, cataloging, and metadata expertise  USC Shoah Foundation Institute preservation and presentation systems  ITS high-performance network and computing facilities 2.Provide a high-quality physical preservation environment USC’s Dual Approach

 A partnership among the USC Libraries, USC Information Technology Services, and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute  An infrastructure that provides access to digitized or born- digital collections:  Enable access any time, anywhere  Encourage research in the digital environment  Generate revenue by extending services to private-sector clients  USC super-computer—5 th fastest in the world—and high- performance network provide access services 1. The USC Digital Repository

 Digitization—Leverage mass digitization systems and USC Digital Library imaging systems  Cataloging—Use the Shoah Foundation indexing system, plus additional metadata resources from the Digital Library  Digital preservation—Expansion of the current 8-petabyte system  Digital Library access—Leverage high-performance computing systems and networks to distribute content  File-server services for large assets—Provide easy access to all preserved materials through derivatives and alternate file formats Digital Repository Core Functions

 Digitization—no matter how advanced—does not equal preservation  Reliability and degradation of physical storage media  The newer the medium, the faster it fails  Migration challenges and expense  Bit flipping  Digital obsolescence and preservation of means to read media  Intellectual value of the object—in some cases the form is the content Digital Challenges and Risks

 Archival-quality environmental control—books printed on acid paper last 40 years longer  Faster service—the ASRS delivers materials within 5 minutes of a request  Efficiency—the ASRS stores materials in 1/12 the space of conventional shelving  Enhance and encourage discovery  Revenue generation from campus and private-sector clients 2. Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS)

Print Materials Special Collections Multimedia Materials Physical Artifacts Born-Digital Materials Digital Repository Automated Storage and Retrieval System Users and Researchers around the World Integrated Library System High-Performance Network USC’s Dual Approach to Digital Services and Physical Collections

 ASRS  Completed feasibility study  Secure provostial approval  Raise funds for U.S. $50 million construction  Determine location for 800,000 cubic-foot facility  Digital Repository  Funded start-up phase for U.S. $200,000  Identifying initial partners and clients  USC units  Film industry (e.g. Paramount Studios) Next Steps

USC Libraries Shoah Foundation Institute college.usc.edu/vhi/college.usc.edu/vhi/ Additional Information