Digital Preservation Tool Grid.

Digital Preservation Tool Grid. Preserving Objects With Restricted Resources. May 15, 2013.
This is a grid, created by POWRR, that looks at 24 different features, such as ingest, processing, access, storage, maintenance, and cost, for about 50 digital preservation tools. The tools range from simple tools to full digital preservation systems, from ACE to Xena. This tool is very informative.

Digital Preservation Matters.

ZENODO. Research. Shared.

ZENODO. Research. Shared. Website. May 12, 2013.
ZENODO is a new open digital repository repository service that enables researchers, scientists, projects and institutions to share and showcase multidisciplinary research results (data and publications) that are not part of existing institutional or subject-based repositories. The repository is created by OpenAIRE and CERN, and supported by the European Commission.  It promotes peer-reviewed openly accessible research;  all items have a DOI, so they are citable. All formats are allowed. There is a 1GB per file size constraint.  Data files are versioned, but records are not. Files may be deposited under closed, open, embargoed or restricted access.
It is named after  Zenodotus, the first librarian of the Ancient Library of Alexandria and father of the first recorded use of metadata, a landmark in library history. ZENODO is provided free of charge for educational and informational use.

Digital Preservation Matters.

British Library Digital Preservation Strategy.

British Library Digital Preservation Strategy. The British Library. March 2013.
The British has published their digital preservation strategy for 2013 - 2016. Their vision is that by 2020 they will put in place end-to-end workflows that deliver and preserve their digital collections in a trusted long term digital repository so that they may be accessed by future users.
This is not a strategy for the digital preservation team alone, but a strategy for the whole library. They are working to confidently, reliably, and cost-effectively manage and preserve all types of digital content destined for long term preservation and embed best practice in digital collection content management in all areas of the Library. With acquisition comes responsibility: we must preserve and make this content accessible for our future users. They recognize a benefit from collaboration with other national and international institutions on digital preservation initiatives

This strategy outlines four strategic priorities to be met by 2016:

1. Ensure our digital repository can store and preserve our collections for the long term:
2. Manage the risks and challenges associated with digital preservation throughout the digital collection content lifecycle
3. Embed digital sustainability as an organisational principle for digital library planning and development not just technical solutions but also clear organisational
4. commitment and resources.

Digital Preservation Matters.

The NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation: An Explanation and Uses.

The NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation: An Explanation and Uses. Megan Phillips, et al. National Digital Stewardship Alliance. February 28, 2013.

The National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) is refining a a set of recommendations and guidelines for those involved with preserving digital assets long term.  The guidelines are organized into five functional areas that are at the heart of digital
preservation systems: storage and geographic location, file fixity and data integrity, information security, metadata, and file formats.

The tiered, matrix approach of the Levels of Digital Preservation features multiple levels and content areas that can be adapted over time. The flexible approach allows users to achieve different levels in different content areas according to their unique needs and resources.


The guidelines were initially developed as a reference for prioritizing enhancements to digital preservation systems. They are also useful for developing guidelines for content creators, validate local preservation guidance, as minimum requirements for developing preservation services,  and to help assess compliance with best practices.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Tor Books says cutting DRM out of its e-books hasn’t hurt business.

Tor Books says cutting DRM out of its e-books hasn’t hurt business. Megan Geuss.   Ars Technica. May 4, 2013.

Tor Books announced last April that it would only retail e-books in DRM-free formats because its customers are “a technically sophisticated bunch, and DRM is a constant annoyance to them. It prevents them from using legitimately-purchased e-books in perfectly legal ways, like moving them from one kind of e-reader to another."

This week, Julie Crisp, editorial director at Tor UK, wrote that the publisher has seen “no discernible increase in piracy on any of our titles, despite them being DRM-free for nearly a year.”

Tor's 2012 decision was largely applauded by its customers and authors. The authors agreed to a scheme which would allow their readers greater freedom with their novels.

Digital Preservation Matters.

PDF/A, PDF for Long-term Preservation.

PDF/A, PDF for Long-term Preservation. Library of Congress.  03/21/2013.
This section on PDF/A is part of the Library of Congress website on sustainable formats. The page includes description of PDF/A, sustainability factors, quality and functionality factors, format specifications, and useful references.

PDF/A is a family of ISO standards that attempt provide sustainable formats, through device independence, self-containment, and self-documentation. The PDF/A standards are developed and maintained by a working group with representatives from government, industry, and academia and active support from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

PDF/A-1, the first PDF/A standard, was based on PDF version 1.4 and published in 2005.
PDF/A-2 extends the capabilities of PDF/A-1 and is based on PDF version 1.7.
PDF/A-3 allows including in a PDF/A file, other types of files in any other format, not just other PDF/A files.

Restrictions on PDF/A files include:

• Audio and video content are forbidden
• Javascript and executable file launches are prohibited
• All fonts must be legally embeddable for unlimited, universal rendering
• Colorspaces specified in a device-independent manner
• Encryption is disallowed
• Use of standards-based metadata is mandated

The PDF/A standards define levels of conformance: conformance level A satisfies all requirements in the specification; level B and level U are lower levels of conformance, still satisying the requirements of ISO 19005 regarding the visual appearance of electronic documents, but less demanding as to representation of structural or semantic properties.

Digital Preservation Matters.

The APTrust Architecture Presentation.

The APTrust Architecture Presentation. Scott Turnbull. Academic Preservation Trust. May 6, 2013.
The Academic Preservation Trust (APTrust) consortium is developing a preservation environment.  The website includes slides presenting the APTrust Phase I Architecture.  It gives a general look at the components being developed.  The APTrust repository will serve as a replicating node for the Digital Preservation Network (DPN). At the local level, APTrust will provide a preservation environment for participating members, including disaster recovery services.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Light, Dark and Dim Archives: What are they?

Light, Dark and Dim Archives: What are they?  May 2013.

 The following is a compilation of a few definitions or examples of Light, Dark and Dim archives to better understand what they are.

 The notion of "dark archives", supporting little or no access to archived materials, has met with scant enthusiasm in the library community. This suggests that digital repositories will function not just as guarantors of the long-term viability of materials in their custody, but also as access gateways. Lavoie

A secure digital repository sometimes referred to as a "dark archive" Kirsch

Dark Archive: An archive that does not grant public access and only preserves the information it contains. This can refer to a digital archive or repository as well as brick & mortar archive. Michigan

Dark archive: The purpose of a dark archive is to function as a repository for information that can be used as a failsafe during disaster recovery. UCPress

The Dark Archive is a secret place for storing archival material with restricted user access. Tufts

We chose to create a “dark” archive to focus our efforts on securing and preserving large volumes of content important to libraries and their users; however, it is not exclusively dark. Participating libraries experience the archive as a “light” or accessible archive in two ways: auditing the archive to ensure we are prepared to support eventual use and accessing of content that has been made available as the result of a “trigger event” or post-cancellation access claim. Portico

Dark archives are certainly misunderstood both inside and outside the industry.  So, what is a dark archive?  It is, simply put, an archive of information that is not used for public access.  Most often it serves as a failsafe copy of a light archive, i.e. a publicly available version of the information, for use in disaster recovery operations.  Dark archives need not be a fully operational copy of an information system, rather just the content behind the information system.  This is an important distinction because maintaining an exact operational copy of an information system is a much more complex and expensive undertaking than maintaining only the content the information system operates on.  Metaphorically, at its base definition, a dark archive will require more than a flip of the switch to make a light archive. Osti Bog

Dark Archive: An archive that is inaccessible to the public. It is typically used for the preservation of content that is accessible elsewhere. See also dim archive, light archive.

Dim Archive: An archive that is inaccessible to the public, but that can easily be made accessible if required. It's typically used for the preservation of content that is accessible elsewhere. See also dark archive, light archive.

Light Archive: An archive that is accessible to the public. See also dim archive and dark archive.  CDL

A DDP network may be an open archive, or it may reside somewhere on the spectrum from dim to dark archive. That is, it may be open to only the contributors’ servers for ingesting (dark archive); it may be open to specified users, such as the contributing institutions’ communities (dim archive); or it may provide unrestricted access (open archive). This status will determine whether contributors will focus solely on long-term preservation issues, or some combination of preservation and public access issues. MetaArchive

Dark Archive: Digital archive for which access to content is limited to organizational custodians.

Dim Archive: Digital archive that incorporates elements of both the Dark and Open Archive models. Access for some materials is restricted to organizational custodians, while access for others may be open to a broad user community.

Open Archive:  A digital archive that is publicly accessible. MetaArchive

 Below are two figures from the OAIS Model (2012) showing the Access functions.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Digital Preservation Best Practices and Guidelines.

Digital Preservation Best Practices and Guidelines. North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources. Website. April 23, 2013.
This site contains many useful tools and resources for digital preservation:

• Naming conventions for files
• How to manage digital files
• Examples of many policies and guidelines
• Electronic records management policies/guidelines by state
• Best practices
• File formats
• Email policies
• Preservation metadata

Digital Preservation Matters.

DuraCloud Now Offers Low Cost Glacier Storage!

DuraCloud Now Offers Low Cost Glacier Storage!  Carol Minton Morris. Duraspace. May 2, 2013.
DuraCloud has increased the long-term storage options that it offers.  This online storage is intended for durable storage, for data archiving and backup, and particularly for data that is infrequently accessed. It has automatic synchronization between primary and secondary copy, and web access to all copies stored in DuraCloud. Pricing is available at http://duracloud.org/pricing.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Reel to Real: Sound at the Pitt Rivers Museum.

Reel to Real: Sound at the Pitt Rivers Museum. Pitt Rivers Museum website. April 2013.
Reel to Real is the archival sound project at the Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford. [One of my favorite museums.] It describes methods used to digitize wax cylinders, reel to reel tapes, audio cassettes and other formats in the Museum's ethnographic sound archive. Also included are examples of the archival sounds from the collections.  This has been done to connect the sounds with "wider collections and to engage diverse audiences".

Digital Preservation Matters.

Stakeholder Benefits from Research Data Management: new document from Research360 project.

Stakeholder Benefits from Research Data Management: new document from Research360 project. Neil Beagrie, Catherine Pink. University of Bath.  26 Nov 2012.
The Research360 Project has released the summary stakeholder benefits analysis from the Research Data Management business case for the University of Bath. The 4 page document is available for  download in PDF format.

Industry and private sector partnerships alongside public sector and voluntary sector partnerships are key elements of many university research programmes.  Frequently partners sharing their practice, results data and laboratory methodologies can lead to vital knowledge transfer activities, improved services and products, creation of spin-out companies and further investment in the Higher Education sector.  A summary list of stakeholder benefits that can arise from research data management in these collaborations. Benefits are listed for:

• university community by its key stakeholder groups:
• academic staff and researchers, students, professional services, and the institution
• external partners:
• industry and commerce, public/voluntary sectors, government, and society 

 Some of the benefits include:

• Improve possibility of success in research funding by addressing any concerns around data management.
• Safeguarding your data against potential loss.
• Support in patent issues such as proof of provenance through improved use of version control.
• Enhanced global reputation through recognition of the quality of research outputs and data infrastructure.
• Attract new collaborators and accelerate deepening of existing relationships.
• Graduate employability increased through university partner connections and student data skills.
• Reduction of risk for sensitive data if data transfer is secure.
• Cost efficiencies from shared data services.

Digital Preservation Matters.

The Last Bookshop.

The Last Bookshop. Richard Dadd, et al. The Bakery. YouTube Video. Apr 9, 2013.
A 20 minute video that  imagines a future where physical books have died out.

Digital Preservation Matters.

NDSA Content Case Studies.

NDSA Content Case Studies. National Digital Stewardship Alliance. March 2013.
The NDSA Content Working Group is developing case studies about the importance of preserving digital materials in order to " engage all members of the community in the preservation of content and to encourage the cultivation of relationships that could enable preservation."  There are several completed case studies. The Case Studies:

• Establish the value of the content and the reasons for selecting it for preservation. What is the value of the content and what factors may increase the risk of it disappearing.
• Document the opportunities to preserve the content in its creation or distribution. 
• Describe target audiences/stakeholders. Who would find value in content and how might they be involved in preserving it.
• Outline a plan to educate stakeholders to increase their awareness. 
• Describe potential obstacles or risk factors and the options for overcoming them.
• Develop specific actions that can be taken to ensure the important content is preserved.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Perspectives on Personal Digital Archiving - Digital Preservation.

Perspectives on Personal Digital Archiving - Digital Preservation. Signal. Library of Congress.
March 22, 2013. [PDF, 79 pages].

This is a published compilation of selected blog posts published in The Signal that focus on personal digital archiving. Individuals face the same challenges with digital materials as institutions. 

The content is grouped under three general headings:

• Personal Digital Archiving Guidance:  including tips for preserving digital photographs, archiving cell phone messages, image resolution to use, family history and digital preservation, personal archiving in the cloud,getting your digital affairs in order, and others.
• Personal Reflections on Personal Digital Archiving:  examples of personal experience, working with obsolete files, 
• Personal Digital Archiving Outreach:  personal digital archiving kit, reports of presentations, events and online sessions.

In the future, any studies of our time period will require using born-digital sources: websites, email, digital photographs and many other material that exist only in electronic form. The same is true for people wanting to pass on their personal photos and files.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Viewshare: Interfaces to our heritage

Viewshare: Interfaces to our heritage. Library of Congress. Website. April 2013.
Viewshare, an open source instance of Recollection, is a free platform for generating and customizing views (interactive maps, timelines, facets, tag clouds) that allow users to experience your digital collections.
Functionality:

1. Ingest collections from spreadsheets or MODS records.
2. Generate distinct interactive visual interfaces to digital collections, including maps and timelines, and sophisticated faceted navigation.
3. Just copy-paste to embed interface in any webpage. Provide users with new ways to explore content
   
   
   Digital Preservation Matters.

An Intern Considers the Digital Preservation Challenge

An Intern Considers the Digital Preservation Challenge, Part 1 & Part 2. Jennifer Clark. The Signal. March 27-28, 2013.
Some items from the articles to remember:

• People working with archival or heritage resources actually do know that digital preservation is important and even essential, but they aren’t always sure of the best ways of approaching the problem and achieving success in their preservation activities.
• Digital objects are no longer just for viewing or reading but also for data analysis and visualization. It is not sufficient to save these items merely for human interaction; we must also preserve for future machine interaction as well.
•  digital preservationists must value pragmatism over idealism to make sure as many of our digital objects are as safe as possible.
• we will not have anything to process if we don’t acquire as much at-risk material as we can right now.
• Making progress in digital preservation is not just an issue of technology and tools; it’s also an issue of collaboration.the future of the profession is not only to become advocates, but also to become collaborators. 
• convince people of the future value of their digital objects in a way that is important to them
• The easiest way to get people to become fellow collaborators is to tap into their familiar workflows and to seamlessly integrate preservation activities, rather than trying to create a parallel workflow or impose an entirely new one.
  
  
  
  Digital Preservation Matters.

JHOVE2 version v2.1.0

JHOVE2 version v2.1.0. Website. March 18, 2013.
Version 2.1.0 of the open-source JHOVE2 format characterization tool has been released. This version includes:

• 3 new format modules, ARC, WARC, and GZIP;
• a new identifier module, based on the Unix "file" utility;
• a new XSLDisplayer module which can do XSLT transformations on the XML output before displaying it;
• additional bug fixes and enhancements.
  
  
  Digital Preservation Matters.

The Digital-Surrogate Seal of Approval: a Consumer-oriented Standard

The Digital-Surrogate Seal of Approval: a Consumer-oriented Standard.  James A. Jacobs, James R. Jacobs. D-Lib Magazine. March/April 2013.
"Digital-Surrogate Seal of Approval" (DSSOA) is a proposed way to describe the accuracy and completeness of digital objects that were created from printed books and other non-digital originals. It indicates that the original has been digitized completely and with 100% accuracy. This seal of approval may be applied to a digitized version of an analog original when it accurately replicates the original. To do this, two criteria must be met and verified:

1. Completeness. All pages of the original are fully and completely reproduced.
2. Accuracy. The original layout and appearance are preserved. All text is legible and there is no visual degradation when compared to the original.

The seal of approval, with a Statement of Verification,  can be applied by those responsible for the digital objects at any stage of the life cycle. The Statement of Verification must describe the methodology used and confirm 100% compliance. A "digital surrogate" in this context is a complete, accurate, digital replica of a bibliographically-identified, analog original item. The seal of approval  may be applied to a specific item or to a collection when all items in the collection meet the criteria.  The criteria may be used by organizations that create, manage, preserve, or deliver digital content. They may apply it to items that they curate as a way of communicating to their user-communities the completeness and accuracy of digital surrogates. The article also  addresses metadata elements, requirements and exceptions. This may not be appropriate or necessary for all digitization projects or collections.

Digital Preservation Matters.