Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation NOF-digi Preservation Workshop Senior Managers’ Brief Maggie Jones DPC Co-ordinator 18 th November 2003

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Overview  Definition of digital preservation  Opportunities and challenges of digital technology  Advantages and disadvantages of projects  Things to think about  The Digital Preservation Coalition

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Terminology Digital Preservation “…all of the actions required to maintain access to digital materials beyond the limits of media failure or technological change.” Preservation Management of Digital Materials: A Handbook, p.10

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Opportunities of digital technology  Meet increasing demands of clients Users look increasingly to the web for their information  Take advantage of enhanced functionality Linking different resources; virtual reality  Can be a powerful educational tool Can make education more fun as well as informative, e.g. virtual tours of timescapes  Make rich resources from variety of domains and content widely available

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Challenges of Digital Technology  Rapid change and obsolescence  Unclear roles and responsibilities for long-term Lifecycle management  Infrastructure for long-term management not yet fully developed  Scale of digital resource creation is vast – and growing all the time

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Advantages of Projects  Injection of funds to enable more rapid development of quality digital content  Can explore new and innovative approaches  Develops skills  Facilitates a more focused approach, rather than piecemeal development

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Disadvantages of projects  They come to an end!  What happens when project staff have moved on?  How can the investment in digitisation be protected?  Unless the long-term management of project resources is planned for before the end of the project – there’s a high probability that it will disappear

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation The Bigger Picture Coordinating Digitisation in Europe “There is increasing recognition that the introduction of new technologies into the world of culture must be seen as an investment, and not just a cost. And such an investment must be both productive and sustainable over time.”

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation The Lund principles and Action Plan  Meeting in Lund, April 2001  Recognises need for improved co-ordination where there is such rich and varied sources of content creation  Attempt to ensure the significant value of digitisation programmes are not compromised by identified barriers (e.g. fragmentation of approach, obsolescence)

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation The NOF Programme  Has established good precedence in providing technical standards  Emphasis on accountability and value for money  £50m is a significant investment  Ambitious scale and scope

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation A Preservation Plan  Adherence to technical standards alone won’t be enough to maintain content over time  Will need active management over time  Someone will need to be assigned responsibility for this  It will need to be in pace before the project ends so that those with most knowledge of the content can communicate with those entrusted with its maintenance

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Things to consider  Is all the relevant documentation prepared?  What strategy will be used for moving the content across different technical platforms?  What needs to be preserved?  What can be preserved?  What parts of the project will need to be disabled/changed (e.g. interactive components, contact details, dates)

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Preservation Plan  Must include succession planning (particularly important for projects)  Doesn’t need to have solved all the preservation challenges  Is about buying time to enable the most cost- effective long-term management

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Digital Preservation Coalition Established July Members Working collaboratively to preserve digital heritage Cross-sectoral membership

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation The Digital Preservation Coalition  Advocacy Campaign – PR consultancy appointed Much greater media coverage as a result  DPC Forums – three each year focussing on specific aspects of digital preservation Free to DPC members/open to non members for a fee Provides informal mechanism for information sharing and networking  ‘What’s New in Digital Preservation? Quarterly newsletter  DPC Training Workshops

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Assessment of Need  Key initiative for 03/04 Work Programme  We need to quantify the problem and develop an action plan – how much digital material is out there? – How much is at serious risk of loss? – What are the priorities for action?

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Survey of DPC Members  First stage in assessment exercise  Has revealed rich source of data  Gap between stated importance of digital preservation and policy and planning documents  Preliminary results discussed at a Workshop, November 03

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Action Plan  Follow up work on dp projects reported by DPC members  Follow-up work to clarify scale and volume of digital resources  Develop log of examples of losses; scenarios; and case studies  Sample survey of digitisation projects  Sample survey of digital materials held in smaller institutions

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Assessment Exercise  We need to be able to quantify exactly what the risks are and how to deal with them cost-effectively  The assessment of need will help to flesh out precisely what the threat is and how it can be dealt with  We need to accelerate the development of infrastructure able to cope with anticipated demand Legal deposit legislation E-science Digitisation programmes

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation DPC Assessment Exercise Timeframe

Digital Preservation Coalition Supporting Digital Preservation Summary  There are no clear-cut or definitive solutions  Progress depends on a mix of individual institutional responsibility combined with improved coordination at national, regional, and local level as well as internationally  Good practice is evolving and support mechanisms (e.g. DCC) are being developed  Good planning and documentation offer the best prospects in the interim