Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices: a Social Network Analysis of Three Academic Departments at Colorado State University ED PEYRONNIN

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices We seem at times, to be living in what Umberto Eco has called an “epoch of forgetting”.”(Kuny, 1997)

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices Problem We have shifted to a new modality – Digital The new modality is transforming our stored knowledge How do we ensure the preservation of this knowledge? Cases of data lost due to (relatively short-term) obsolescence and neglect exist Data storage and data preservation are two very different concepts.

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices Personal, professional and organizational data management responsibilities and behavior have not been clearly defined, articulated or communicated

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices Remedy - Higher education institutions should develop communication strategies to: Create dialogue among all stakeholders Refine and articulate existing standards Consolidate repetitious standards Eliminate conflicting standards Create new standards Promote knowledge of digital practices and adoption of standards

Research questions R1 – How do researchers communicate and learn about digital data management practices at a major research university? R1a – How do specific events such as workshops, training, or data- loss impact digital data management practices? R1b – How does local resource access impact digital data management practices? R1c – How do external stimuli, such as the requirement for data management plans, impact digital data management practices? R2 – How can communication improve digital data management practices? Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices

Method - Social Network Analysis A relational approach Causal pressures are inherent in social structure Network analysis is a set of methods for detecting and measuring the magnitude of the pressures …how an individual lives depends in large part on how that individual is tied into the larger web of social connections. INSNA (International Network for Social Network Analysis), by Lin Freeman

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices SNA largely studies dyadic attributes such as Social Roles: boss of, teacher of, friend of Cognitive: knows, views as similar Actions: talks to, has lunch with, attacks Co-occurrence: is in the same club as, has the same color hair as

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices Area of interest Three departments at CSU with different academic and research perspective Atmospheric Research – Large number of scientific research grants CIS – Instruct the rules of technology Anthropology – Large academic area

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices

Faculty Count

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices Student Count

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices Research Grant Dollars

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices CLIR interview questions (Spencer, L. J. a. A. A. (2012). The Problem of Data: Data Management and Curation Practices Among University Researchers. Retrieved from Demographics Background Data creation/analysis Collaboration Preservation Personal practices and training Extra-departmental activities

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices Data Collection and Reporting Collect Institutional data Interview two faculty from each department using amended CLIR questionnaire Develop and distribute survey to the three departments Create and analyze matrices Conduct in depth interviews with one faculty member from each department Write report

Paths for Adoption of Digital Preservation Practices Thank you! Questions, Comments, Recommendations