Libraries and the Preservation of Cultural Heritage: Building on the Past to Develop Our Future. Chris Erickson. XXVII Congresso Brasileiro de Biblioteconomia, Documentação e Ciência da Informação. Fortaleza, Brazil. October 19, 2017.
A few weeks ago I had the wonderful opportunity to visit Brazil and give this presentation on digital preservation at the Congresso Brasileiro de Biblioteconomia, Documentação e Ciência da Informação. Many thanks to Adriana Cybele Ferrari (FEBAB) and Anderson de Santana. The presentation provides an overview of digital preservation concepts as well as our approach to preservation and our workflow.
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Friday, November 17, 2017
AFI, Library of Congress Celebrate 50 Years of Film Preservation
AFI, Library of Congress Celebrate 50 Years of Film Preservation. Penelope Poulou. Voice of America. November 14, 2017.
The American Film Institute and the Library of Congress are partners in film preservation. The Library of Congress facility has an ongoing preservation process where technicians transfer films onto a sturdier polyester-type film material, which if stored properly can last for centuries. The digital conversion reaches wider audiences on a multi-platform basis, including streaming. "Not only are they archiving these movies, they are also circulating to television channels, television stations.
But the Nitrate Film Vault manager says digital preservation may be an oxymoron. “How do you save digital material? 'Cause digital as a rule is very iffy. You have only a couple of different ways you can store it, you can store it magnetically or optically or on a card, but none of those are permanent. Something can disrupt them and the stuff is gone.”
Whether stored in their original format or restored on newer film or digitally, the important thing is that these films are kept for posterity. “Film is a huge part of our history. And, if we don’t cherish it and preserve it, it will not be with us. So, we have to do that.”
The American Film Institute and the Library of Congress are partners in film preservation. The Library of Congress facility has an ongoing preservation process where technicians transfer films onto a sturdier polyester-type film material, which if stored properly can last for centuries. The digital conversion reaches wider audiences on a multi-platform basis, including streaming. "Not only are they archiving these movies, they are also circulating to television channels, television stations.
But the Nitrate Film Vault manager says digital preservation may be an oxymoron. “How do you save digital material? 'Cause digital as a rule is very iffy. You have only a couple of different ways you can store it, you can store it magnetically or optically or on a card, but none of those are permanent. Something can disrupt them and the stuff is gone.”
Whether stored in their original format or restored on newer film or digitally, the important thing is that these films are kept for posterity. “Film is a huge part of our history. And, if we don’t cherish it and preserve it, it will not be with us. So, we have to do that.”
Friday, November 10, 2017
Staffing for Effective Digital Preservation 2017: An NDSA Report
Staffing for Effective Digital Preservation 2017: An NDSA Report. Winston Atkins, et al. NDSA. October 2017.
This excellent report, based on a recent survey, looks at how organizations staffed and organized their digital preservation functions, and compares it with the survey done in 2012. This is a report worth studying.
Survey respondents were from the following organizations:
"Organizations establishing or scaling up digital preservation programs are faced with many staffing, scoping, and organizational decisions. Some of the questions that need to be answered include":
From the survey, organizations reported:
Staffing:
Content amount and Collection growth:
Preservation activities and organization:
Other general comments of interest about digital preservation staffing issues include:
Importance of Qualifications for digital preservation staff in 2017, in order:
This excellent report, based on a recent survey, looks at how organizations staffed and organized their digital preservation functions, and compares it with the survey done in 2012. This is a report worth studying.
Survey respondents were from the following organizations:
- Academic library or archives (46%)
- Government entities (11%)
- Museum (8%)
"Organizations establishing or scaling up digital preservation programs are faced with many staffing, scoping, and organizational decisions. Some of the questions that need to be answered include":
- How many staff members are needed and what kinds of skills, education, and experience should they have?
- What types of positions should the institution create?
- Should it hire new staff or retrain existing staff?
- What functions should be included in the preservation program, provided by other parts of the organization, outsourced, or implemented through collaboration with other organizations?
- What organizational and staffing models work well?
From the survey, organizations reported:
Staffing:
- an average of 13.6 FTE are working in digital preservation activities, but ideally the organizations would double that to 27.5 FTE
- there is a need for more digital archivists,software developers, and cataloger/metadata analysts.
- 68% of organizations retrained existing staff for at least some digital preservation functions,
- 42% of organizations also hired experienced digital preservation specialists.
- Staffing for an organization managing 1–50 TB
- Current: 10.7 FTE
- Ideal: 30.6 FTE
Content amount and Collection growth:
- 58.6% were preserving 1–50 TB of digital content,
- 16.5% were preserving 51–100 TB,
- 14.3% were preserving 101–500 TB,
- 8.3% were preserving more than 500 TB.
- 73.2% expected less than 25% growth in the collection.
- In 2012, 68% expected up to a 49% growth.
Preservation activities and organization:
- Most organizations prefer conducting most digital preservation activities in-house
- Only 32% of the organizations had a dedicated digital preservation department
- 46% were not satisfied with how the digital preservation function was organized within their organization
- 25% believed it was organized properly.
- Satisfaction decreased from 2012, when 43% agreed or strongly agreed that their digital preservation functions were well-organized.
- One of the most striking findings was the increased percentage of respondents who reported that they were not satisfied with the way the digital preservation function was organized
- 52% of respondents participate in at least one consortium or cooperative network. Benefits include:
- networking (68%),
- training (57%),
- storage space (54%)
- Consulting (35%),
- access interface (33%)
- communications/marketing (28%),
- programming (25%),
- federated search (16%)
- Department that takes the lead for digital preservation:
- Library / Archives 69.1%
- Information Technology (IT) 16.0%
- Preservation department 6.2%
- Other 8.6%
Other general comments of interest about digital preservation staffing issues include:
- “Continuing education is a must, so that staff can stay up-to-date on current trends and the latest news in technology.”
- “It should be organized keeping in mind extra skills of an individual in addition to his/her specialist skill set.
- “Staffing is critical to success.... All the pieces must be in place for a successful digital preservation effort.”
Importance of Qualifications for digital preservation staff in 2017, in order:
- Knowledge of digital preservation standards/best practices
- Communication
- Passion and motivation for digital preservation
- Collaboration
- Analytical skills
- Project planning/management
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