1. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open ForumIWMW 2006 14 June 2006 Funded by: This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 UK: Scotland License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc- sa/2.5/scotland/ ; or, (b) send a letter to Creative Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA. Digital Curation: A Framework for Managing and Preserving E-mail Records Maureen Pennock Digital Curation Centre, UKOLN UKOLN Open Forum, IWMW 2006, 14 June 2006

2. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Todays talk The DCC Background & context What is digital curation? DCC aims & objectives Digital Curation & E-mails Why curate e-mails? Life-cycle perspective Stakeholders & roles Framework

3. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 UK Digital Curation Centre JISC and the e-Science Core Programme funding for development, services and outreach in digital curation for a research programme Impetus to action Growth in e-Science activity and data creation Recognition that continuing access to digital information is crucial Launched early 2004

4. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 What is Digital Curation? Digital curation is all about maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of digital information for current and future use; specifically, we mean the active management and appraisal of data over the life-cycle of scholarly and scientific materials. Enables organisations to address the many challenges of effectively managing, preserving, and re-using digital materials A challenge best tackled collaboratively

5. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 DCC Objectives Lead a vibrant international research programme to improve quality in data curation and digital preservation Deliver effective, efficient and high demand services undertake evaluation of tools, methods, standards and policies work with the community to establish registries of tools and technical information Create an active, innovative and collaborative Associates Network Connect communities Universities and Research institutions Scientific data and documents International & cross-sector Achieve the virtuous circle

6. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 DCC Research Annotation in Databases Data archiving Socio-economic and legal issues Metadata extraction and curation Provenance and databases Data transformation, integration and publishing Security Supporting technologies Organisational and cultural challenges to digital curation

7. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 DCC Development DCC Approach to Digital Curation (white paper) – sets out the path for development activities: Monitoring international standards Development of a Representation Information Registry/Repository (DCC RIR) Development of recommendations for tools and methods for generating Representation Information Creating testbeds for digital curation tools Creating auditing and certification processes for trusted repositories

8. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 DCC Services Information Services Community-developed Digital Curation Manual Briefing Papers Technology Watch, Legal Watch, Standards Watch Case Studies Best Practice Checklists Advisory Services Events: information days, workshops, training, conferences Helpdesk Audit and Certification Services

9. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 DCC summary Support and promote continuing improvement in the quality of data curation and preservation activity Nurture strong community relationships between practitioners, researchers, and curators Address digital curation from all aspects of the records life-cycle Develop and promote curation knowledge, tools and techniques Identify and research new organisational, technical, and supporting curation challenges

10. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Why curate e-mails? E-mails are records too Misconceptions concerning ownership Subject to technological obsolescence More complex than people think Its not just about e-mails Legal requirements Financial consequences Historically and culturally valuable

11. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Life-cycle model

12. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Stakeholders & Roles The range of stakeholders that affect the survival of digital material cuts across the whole lifecycle; everyone plays an important role Management & policy-makers Users - creators & receivers of e-mail records Records Managers IT staff System & mail-server administration Local Area network (LAN) Manager Archivists (Curators) Re-users

13. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Creation E-mails must be: Well-formed Well-managed (re - sent items) Important elements: Good creation/responding practices Inserting metadata Headers – subject line, addresses Message body - context Message formats Attachments Complying with house-style Guidance must be provided for users on: Acceptable use of e-mail system Organisation policy on the above

14. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Active Use E-mails must be: Well-managed (re - sent & received items) Captured into organisational record-keeping system Important elements: Identifying e-mail records from non-records Organisational retention requirements Meeting legal requirements Proper filing of e-mail records Deletion of transient e-mails Proper filing of e-mail records Saving e-mail records independently of e-mail client

15. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Archiving E-mails must be: Captured and transferred into organisational archival repository Whole - comprising message body, headers & attachments Archival metadata must be created and linked Persistent identifiers must be assigned Authenticity of the e-mails must be verified Integrity of e-mails maintained Persistent links must be established between various parts of an e-mail (and also with other related records) Storage must be secured from unauthorised or malicious access Access rights must be implemented

16. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Preservation E-mails must be: Stored in a format that allows authenticity, integrity, & access to be ensured over time Migrated to avoid technological obsolescence This includes attachments Authenticity requirements must be determined Preservation strategy must be developed and tested Preservation metadata must be collected and maintained Storage infrastructure must also be carried through time Organisational and cultural challenges must be addressed

17. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Access & Re-use E-mails must be: Accessible for appropriate re-users Exported in an appropriate and usable format Legal access and re-use restrictions must be observed Re-use software may be needed Different re-users may have different re-use requirements E-mails can be re-used for very different purposes to why they were originally created

18. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Conclusions Curation begins at source: curation activities therefore start at the creation stage Stakeholder responsibilities cannot easily be allocated to one specific stage in the life-cycle Communication between stakeholder groups is essential to achieve successful curation Policy and training are key elements of curation Proprietary formats severely hinder long-term preservation and access The do-nothing and print-to-paper approaches are not appropriate approaches to managing and preserving e-mail records

19. a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation UKOLN Open Forum IWMW 200614 June 2006 Thank you. Questions? Maureen Pennock m.pennock@ukoln.ac.uk Join the DCC Associates Network at http://www.dcc.ac.uk