A Geospatial Approach to Library Resources

A Geospatial Approach to Library Resources. Justin B. Sorensen. D-Lib Magazine. March/April 2015.
The fire insurance maps are a valuable resource. Digital versions of the original printed maps have been created and have been converted into georeferenced raster datasets, using ArcGIS software, aligning each map to its appropriate geospatial location to maintain consistent digital overlays for all of the historic maps. This allows the information to be displayed, expressed and presented in completely new ways. GIS can be one of the many tools libraries will have available to assist them in sharing their resources with others.

Digital Preservation Matters.

When checksums don't match...

When checksums don't match...  Jenny Mitcham. Digital Archiving at the University of York. 2 February 2015.
Post about an example of files that had MD5 errors. Used various utilities to generate the check-sums for both MD5 and SHA1. One program showed a change, while another did not. However, when SHA1 was used, it showed that the files had different check-sums. Possibly an example of bit rot.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Forecasting the Future of Libraries 2015

Forecasting the Future of Libraries 2015. Miguel Figueroa. American Libraries. February 26, 2015. 
While it’s nearly impossible to accurately predict the future, we can identify trends that can be key in understanding what the future might bring. It is important for libraries to spot trends and integrate them into their programs and services in order to remain useful and relevant. An article “Trending Now,” lists 5 trends that are worth looking at:

1. Anonymity: it may help build community and is an increasingly important part of web interactions.
2. Collective impact: organizations are adopting common agendas to address issues in the community. Librarians could become highly valued partners in collective-impact responses
3. Fast casual: establishements incorporate customized services and products, and also inte­grate technology, with customer loyalty apps, online or mobile ordering, and mobile payments. Fast casual has advanced the growth of living-room-like flexible spaces (multiple and varied seating arrangements, easy-to-find power outlets) that accommodate social and business needs, and are tech­nologically savvy.
4. Resilience: Resilience includes preparation for and rapid recovery from physical, social, and economic di­sasters, including natural disasters, terrorist at­tacks, or economic collapse.
5. Robots: libraries have seen robots and robotics as a next wave for technology access and training, even lending robots to help users experience what might soon be a regular part of their futures. [They could also be places to learn more about technology.]

The trend library is designed to provide the library community with a centralized and regularly updated source for trends—including how they are developing; why they matter for libraries; and links to the reports, articles, and resources that can further explain their significance. As a collection, it will grow to include changes and trends across society, technology, education, the environment, politics, the economy, and demographics.  Makerspaces are playing an increasingly important role in libraries.

Another article “The Future, Today”addresses similar concepts:

• Digital downloads, ebooks, personal content, and live programming together with books, periodicals, microfilm, audio, and video in today’s libraries. The library of the future will  support and en­hance navigation and exchange of these new forms of information. Library services must be delivered in ways that are digitally based or conveniently located in public places to help users with their busy schedules
• Collections are being carefully consid­ered so as not to occupy too much square footage, leaving room for tech and social spaces, and a center for multiple activi­ties.  
• Library staff in the future will be organized on the floor to be more effec­tive ‘information guides’ to help patrons.
• There will be more flex­ible spaces for evolving services and forms of information offering.  
• Libraries are no longer single-purpose repositories of books dedicated to quiet study. They have become dynamic hubs in various ways for the community of users

Digital Preservation Matters.

Tools for Discovering and Archiving the Mobile Web

Tools for Discovering and Archiving the Mobile Web. Frank McCown, Monica Yarbrough and Keith Enlow. D-Lib Magazine. March/April 2015.
Many websites have been adapted for access by smartphones and tablets. This has required web archivists to change the way they archive this ephemeral web content. A tool has been created using Heretrix called MobileFinder which can be used to automatically detect mobile pages when given a seed URL. It can be used as a web service.
There are three primary techniques used by websites to deliver mobile pages, and the results of a test to determine which technique was used:

1. Using responsive web design  techniques to deliver the same content to both desktop and mobile devices: 68%
2. Dynamically serving different HTML and CSS to mobile devices using the same URL: 24%
3. Using different URLs to send out desktop or mobile pages: 8%

MobileFinder found in a test that 62% of randomly selected URLs had a mobile-specific root page. A web archiving tool needs to be aware of when these methods are being used so it doesn't miss finding mobile content.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Falling Though the Cracks: Digital Preservation and Institutional Failures

Falling Though the Cracks: Digital Preservation and Institutional Failures. Jerome McDonough. CNI.  December 2014. Video.
A video that explores whether libraries, archives and museums are designed in a way to really provide long-term access to cultural heritage materials. Why are we doing digital preservation, how to do it better, how do we do librarianship better.  Looks at OAIS and the complexities of preserving cultural materials. Need to train people to have broader perspectives across different fields, such as librarians, archivists, and curators.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Trustworthiness: Self-assessment of an Institutional Repository against ISO 16363-2012

Trustworthiness: Self-assessment of an Institutional Repository against ISO 16363-2012. Bernadette Houghton. D-Lib Magazine. March/April 2015.
Digital preservation is a relatively young field, but progress has been made for developing tools and standards to better support preservation efforts. There is increased interest in standards for the audit and certification of digital repositories because researchers want to know they can trust digital repositories. Digital preservation is a long-term issue. The Trustworthy Repositories Audit and Certification (TRAC) checklist has been widely used as the basis of the activities. It later became ISO 16363 (based on the OAIS model) which contains 105 criteria in 3 areas:

1. Organizational infrastructure (governance, structure and viability, staffing, accountability, policies, financial sustainability and legal issues)
2. Digital object management (acquisition and ingest of content, preservation planning and procedures, information management and access)
3. Infrastructure and security risk management (technical infrastructure and security issues)

 "Undertaking a self-assessment against ISO 16363 is not a trivial task, and is likely to be beyond the ability of smaller repositories to manage." An audit is an arms-length review of the repository, requiring evidence of compliance and testing to see that the repository is functioning as a Trusted Digital Repository.  Most repositories at this time are in an ad hoc, still-evolving situation. That is appropriate at this time, but a more mature approach should be taken in the future. The assessment process would rate features for: Full Compliance, Part Compliance, Not Compliant. The conclusions in the article include:

• Self-assessment is time-consuming and resource-heavy, but a beneficial exercise
• Self-assessment is needed before considering external certification. 
• Certification is expensive.
• Get senior management on board. Their support is essential.
• Consider doing an assessment first against NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation  
• Repository software may be OAIS-compliant, but it doesn't mean your repository is also
• Not all ISO 16363 criteria have the same importance. Assess each criteria accordingly
• ISO 16363 is based on a conceptual model and may not fit your exact situation
• Determine in advance how deep the assessment will go.
• Document the self-assessment from the start on a wiki and record your findings  

Digital Preservation Matters.

Storage is a Strategic Issue: Digital Preservation in the Cloud

Storage is a Strategic Issue: Digital Preservation in the Cloud. Gillian Oliver, Steve Knight. D-Lib Magazine. March/April 2015.
Many areas are mandating a 'cloud first' policy for information technology infrastructures. The article is a case study of the decision to outsource and its consequences. Some highlights:

1. data held in archives must be expected to be both preserved and accessible beyond the commercial lifespan of any current technology or service provider.
2. an approach to addressing serious risks (such as loss, destruction or corruption of data) that is based purely on financial reasons is not acceptable; it does not take into account the  preservation and custodial role of archives;
3. there must be an explicit provision made for pre-defined exit strategies as well as effective monitoring and audit procedures

Two main challenges

1. tensions between the information management and information technology perspectives. From the IT perspective the information managers were perceived as crossing boundaries into areas which were not of their concern.
2. funding model. This change was a consequence of moving from the purchase of equipment for storage for use in house, to the provision of storage as a service.

"If most organisations lose a document, so long as they get the document back they're pretty happy. But because of digital preservation being what it is, you don't want to lose or corrupt any of the bits, they have to be exactly the way they were before." 

Cultural heritage institutions should investigate using storage as a service offerings, and also look ahead to utilizing other cloud based services. When making such decisions, you must be aware of the short term consequences of cost saving (i.e. increased burden on operating budgets) as set against potential long term benefits.

Digital Preservation Matters.

The news where you are: digital preservation and the digital dark ages

The news where you are: digital preservation and the digital dark ages. William Killbride. The informed. 25 February 2015.
Excellent post about the state of digital preservation and the existing concerns. "It’s undoubtedly true that preserving digital content through technological change is a real and sometimes daunting challenge.  Our generation has invested as never before in digital content and it is frankly horrifying when you consider what rapid changes in technology could do to that investment." We desperately need to raise awareness about the challenge of digital preservation so that solutions can be found and implemented.  Digital preservation is a concern for everyone. Many organizations depend on data but few have a mission to preserve that data. These are social and cultural challenges as well as technical challenges. We need better tools and processes. But the lack of skills is a bigger challenge than obsolescence.  The loss of data can cause major problems for countries, organizations and people.

Digital Preservation Matters.

The truth about contracts

The truth about contracts. Kevin Smith. Scholarly Communications at Duke. February 13, 2015.
This post looks at how to license student work for deposit in an institutional repository and also some basic truths about contracts and licenses.  It is a good statement of what contracts and licenses are. Contracts are business documents, intended to accomplish specific goals shared by the parties; they should clearly express the intentions of the parties involved.

Contracts can supersede copyright law "not because they are so 'big' but because they are small."   A contract is a “private law” arrangement by which two or more parties rearrange their relationship.  It need not be formal; it is simply the mechanism we use to arrange our relationships in a great many situations, including teaching situations that implicate the copyrights held by students.

A license is “a revocable permission to commit some act that would otherwise be unlawful". Not all licenses are contracts, but most are.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Main features of CERIF

Main features of CERIF. Website. March. 2015.
Common European Research Information Format (CERIF) is a concept about research entities and their relationships. The data-centric data model allows for a metadata representation of research entities, their activities, interconnections, such as research, and the results. It includes semantic relationships which enable quality maintenance, archiving, access and interchange of research information. It is very flexible and can be implemented in different ways. Today CERIF is used as

• a model for implementation of a standalone Current Research Information System (CRIS)
• as a model to define the wrapper around a legacy non-CERIF CRIS, and
• as a definition of a data exchange format to create a common data warehouse from several systems

"Metadata is ... normally understood to mean structured data about resources that can be used to help support a wide range of operations. These might include, for example, resource description and discovery, the management of information resources and their long-term preservation.” 
Presentation for more information.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Rosetta Metadata-extractor tool

Rosetta Metadata-extractor tool. Chris Erickson. March 10, 2015.
We have been looking at creating a Rosetta plugin to extract metadata from other types of image files, particularly Canon raw images. A tool on Github looked like it was a great starting place; it was created by Drew Noakes. This tool extracts many types metadata from many types of image files, including the Canon and Nikon raw images. This extractor tool metadata-extractor, is a Java library and works with Exif, IPTC, XMP, ICC and other metadata which may be present in a single image:

Metadata formats include:

• Exif
• IPTC
• XMP
• JFIF / JFXX
• ICC Profiles
• Photoshop fields
• PNG properties
• BMP properties
• GIF properties
• PCX properties

Types of files it will process:

• JPEG
• TIFF
• WebP
• PSD
• PNG
• BMP
• GIF
• ICO
• PCX
• Camera Raw

Camera-specific "makernote" data is decoded for many types of digital cameras.
Our plugin can extract the relevant metadata; we are working now to integrate that with Rosetta to process our SIP files.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Networked Information's Risky Future: The Promises and Challenges of Digital Preservation

Networked Information's Risky Future: The Promises and Challenges of Digital Preservation. Amy Kirchhoff, Sheila Morrissey, and Kate Wittenberg. Educause Review. March 2, 2015.
There has been tremendous growth in the amount of digital content, which has great benefits. But digital objects may be extremely short-lived without proper attention to preservation. "What are the odds that twenty years from now you will be able to find it and read it with whatever device and software you will be using then? What will be the cost to locate and reproduce the original files in a format that is usable in twenty years?" How do we ensure that our content is truly safe? There are a lot of questions to be answered. A few points:

1. Near-Term Protection: Backup. Imperative for continuity of operations. Multiple copies in multiple locations will provide for near-term access. 
2. Mid-Term Protection: Byte Replication. Create multiple identical copies of files and preferably store in other locations. Don't rely on special software for access. These byte replicas will provide content that is authentic and accessible for as long as the file formats remain usable.
3. Long-Term Protection: Managed Digital Preservation. Establish policies and activities, including those above, to manage content over the very long term. 

Four goals are key to successful managed digital preservation:

• Usability: The objects must remain usable with current technology.
• Discoverability: The objects must have metadata so they can be found by users over time.
• Authenticity: The provenance of the content must be proven.
• Accessibility: The content must be available for use by the appropriate community.

An organization that wants to successfully preserve digital content needs to have, among other things:

• A preservation mission
• An infrastructure to support digital preservation
• An economic model that can support preservation activities over time
• Clear legal rights to preserve the content
• Understand needs of stakeholders and users
• A preservation strategy and policies consistent with best practices
• A technological infrastructure that supports the selected preservation strategy
• Transparency of preservation services, strategies, customers, and content

The three items are required elements of long-term preservation and are appropriate steps in protecting content through preservation. There are best practices available. Institutions starting out should inventory their content, have good backups, and create a long term plan. There us still much to learn. "Ultimately, it is the responsibility of those who produce and care for valuable content to understand preservation options and take action to ensure that the scholarly record remains secure for future generations."

Digital Preservation Matters.

MediaSCORE and MediaRIVERS preservation prioritization tool

MediaSCORE and MediaRIVERS preservation prioritization tool.  Mike Casey, Patrick Feaster, Chris Lacinak. Indiana University, AVPreserve. March 12, 2015.
Indiana University has announced the release of free, open source media preservation prioritization software created in collaboration with AVPreserve.

1. MediaSCORE (Media Selection: Condition, Obsolescence, and Risk Evaluation). This tool enables a detailed analysis of degradation and obsolescence risk factors for most analog and physical digital audio and video formats.
2. MediaRIVERS (Media Research and Instructional Value Evaluation and Ranking System). This tool guides a structured assessment of research and instructional value for media holdings. 

Some additional key features of the software include:

• Browser-based web-application for all Windows and Mac operating systems 
• Permissions based access and views across MediaSCORE and MediaRIVERS.
• Controlled vocabularies and field validation to help ensure consistent data entry.
• Provides auditing path to help with quality assurance and transparency.

The two applications are bundled together but may be used separately. They can be found along with a detailed user guide on GitHub at https://github.com/IUMDPI/MediaSCORE. Also available is a conceptual document that explores assessment of research and instructional value. The software requires installation and configuration on a server, requiring the appropriate expertise. AVPreserve is also offering MediaSCORE/RIVERS as a hosted application on a monthly subscription basis.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Getting to the Bottom Line: 20 Cost Questions for Digital Preservation

Getting to the Bottom Line: 20 Cost Questions for Digital Preservation. Matt Schultz. MetaArchive. March 11, 2015.
The MetaArchive Cooperative has, for over a decade, worked to respond transparently to many of the questions they have about the cost of doing digital preservation. These 20 questions will help institutions compare digital preservation solutions. Features and functionality are important, and often easy to identify. But it is more difficult to identify and compare short- and long-term costs, including a variety of  sometimes hidden fees.

The questions are directed at learning about fees, memberships, storage costs, content limits, cost of having the content geographically distributed, hardware and software costs, services and products that the fees pay for, billing plans, and costs for backing up, retrieving or deleting content.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Investing in Curation. A Shared Path to Sustainability. Final RoadMap.

Investing in Curation. A Shared Path to Sustainability. Paul Stokes. The 4C project. March 9, 2015.
Digital curation involves managing, preserving and adding value to digital assets over their entire life cycle. Actively managing digital assets maximizes their value and reduces the risk of obsolescence. The costs of curation is a concern to stakeholders. The final version of the road map is now available; it starts with a focus on the costs of digital curation, but the ultimate goal is to change the way that all organizations manage their digital assets.

The vision: Cost modeling will be a part of the planning and management activities of all digital repositories.

• Identify the value of digital assets and make choices
• Value is an indirect economic determinant on the cost of curating an asset. The perception of value will affect the methods chosen and how much investment is required.
• Content owners should have clear policies regarding the scope of their collections, the type of assets sought, the preferred file formats.
• Establish value criteria for assets as a component of curation, understanding that certain types of assets can be re-generated or re-captured relatively easily, thereby avoiding curation costs
• Demand and choose more efficient systems
• Requirements for curation services should be specified according to accepted standards and best practices.
• More knowledgeable customers demanding better specified and standard functionality means that products can mature more quickly.
• Develop scalable services and infrastructure
• Organizations should aim to work smarter and be able to demonstrate the impact of their investments.
• Design digital curation as a sustainable service
• Effective digital curation requires active management throughout the whole lifecycle of a digital object.
• Curation should be undertaken with a stated purpose.
• Making curation a service further embeds the activity into the organization's normal business function.
• Make funding dependent on costing digital assets across the whole lifecycle
• Digital curation activity requires a flow of sufficient resources for the activity to proceed.
• Some digital assets may need to be preserved in perpetuity but others will have a much more predictable and shorter life-span.
• All stakeholders involved at any point in the curation lifecycle will need to understand their fiscal responsibilities for managing and curating the asset until such time that the asset is transferred to another steward in the lifecycle chain.
• Be collaborative and transparent to drive down costs
• Each organization is looking to realize a return on their investment.
• If those who provide digital curation services can be descriptive about their products and transparent about their pricing structures, this will enhance possible comparisons, drive competitiveness and lead the market to maturity.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Ending the Invisible Library | Linked Data

Ending the Invisible Library | Linked Data. Matt Enis. Library Journal. February 24, 2015.
The World Wide Web began as a collection of web pages that were navigated with links. Now, and going forward, the web is increasingly about data and relationships among data objects. The use of MARC is "becoming an anachronism in an increasingly networked world". The site schema.org, is a collection of structured data ­schemas that help web designers specify entities and relationships among entities, but these tools were not designed with libraries in mind. MARC lacks the ability to encode this information or make it accessible on the web. Libraries need to start formatting their data so it can be accessed from internet search tools.

The W3C Schema Bib Extend Community Group (librarians, vendors, and organizations) have been working to expand schema.org to better represent library bibliographic information for search engines. The Library of congress has been working with the BIBFRAME project; “a major focus of the project is to translate the MARC 21 format to a Linked Data model while retaining as much as possible the robust and beneficial aspects of the historical format.” This will structure library records so that search engines can “extract meaningful information" and make it available. Ultimately, LC plans for BIBFRAME to replace MARC; there is a tool to convert MARC records to BIBFRAME.

The Libhub Initiative is a proof-of-concept project to build a network of libraries using BIBFRAME standards to link data between institutions and show how this can make library resources more visible on the internet.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Infokit: Digital file formats

Infokit: Digital file formats. Matt Faber. JISC. March 6, 2015.
JISC has released a new infokit resource on Digital file formats. The infokit presents an overview of the current state of digital file formats for still images, audio and moving images, and it is looking toward future formats, and shifts to new formats from previously popular formats.
Choosing the right file format is important to successfully creating, digitizing, delivering, and preserving the digital media objects:

• The format helps define the quality of a digital object. 
• Using poorly supported formats that may restrict or block use will hinder file distribution
• Selecting a proprietary format with a short shelf life, or a compressed format that irreversibly loses data will hamper digital preservation
• Selecting the right format for a project should not be taken lightly

Maintenance of digital media files is an ongoing process. This kit is to:

• Provide a comprehensive understanding of what a file format is 
• The considerations in choosing the correct format for your project
• Provide quick and practical answers to ‘what file format should I use for…? 
• Help identify uncommon digital file formats.
• Provide in-depth technical information about the digital files and file format properties.

Digital Preservation Matters.

Building Productive and Collaborative Relationships at the Speed of Trust

Building Productive and Collaborative Relationships at the Speed of Trust. Todd Kreuger. Educause Review. March 2, 2015.
To make projects successful, it is important to create trust and collaboration among IT, staff, and campus groups. To create that trust, the staff must establish highly productive relationships with the school's departments, faculty, and students. Collaboration, design thinking, and innovation go hand-in-hand. Many projects fall short of customer needs, fail or achieve less than satisfactory results, including plenty of finger pointing and wasted time, money, and opportunity. Some of the lessons learned:

• Get on the same page
• Build and establish trust
• Provide the tools and expectations for success
• Focus on both strategic and operational needs
• Clarify process ownership and the associated responsibilities
• Recognize the desired performance and celebrate success

It is critical to have an open dialogue with various customer groups and to attempt to exceed their expectations. Another challenge is to ensure that people recognize the past as the past and not as an indicator of future performance. The best way to begin a change in culture is to identify issues and challenges that you can immediately address. The reservoir of trust is built one action at a time and emptied in a hurry. To steadily build trust, you must say what you are going to do and do what you say. Communication is the heart and soul of trust. It is imperative that you ask appropriate questions and listen to gain understanding. Collaboration should not be a project in and of itself, but the way in which we work.

Cycle of Productivity model. Processes and tasks must have a defined owner and be documented and published, and change must be managed to ensure that everyone is aware of the new expectations. The basic premise is that training, assessment of effectiveness, and feedback all must occur to ensure the process or task is completed as expected.

The end result "is one in which a culture of collaboration, coupled with a relentless focus on challenging the status quo, results in our encouraging, pushing, and helping each other innovate, transform, and differentiate."  

Digital Preservation Matters.

Significance 2.0: a guide to assessing the significance of collection

Significance 2.0: a guide to assessing the significance of collections. Roslyn Russell, Kylie Winkworth. Collections Council of Australia Ltd. 2009.
This guide is for defining an adaptable method for determining significance across all collections in Australia. The intention is that it will improve collection decision-making in areas such as, preservation, access, and funding support. Regarding significance:

• We cannot keep everything forever. It is vital we make the best use of our scarce resources for collecting, conserving, documenting and digitising our collection materials.
• Significance is not an absolute state; it can change over time.  
• Collection custodians have a responsibility to consult communities and respect other views in constructing societal memory and identity. 
• It is vital to understand, respect and document the context of collection materials that shape collection materials.

Significance’ refers to the values and meanings that items and collections have for people and communities. Significance helps unlock the potential of collections, creating opportunities for
communities to understand, access and enjoy collections. Artistic, scientific and social or
spiritual values are the criteria or key values that help to express how and why an item or collection is significant. Part of the criteria are: provenance, rarity or representativeness, condition or completeness, and interpretive capacity. Significance assessment involves five main steps:

1. analysing an item or collection
2. researching its history, provenance and context
3. comparison with similar items
4. understanding its values by reference to the criteria
5. summarising its meanings and values in a statement of significance

 A statement of significance is a concise summary of the values, meaning and importance of an item
or collection. It is an argument about how and why an item or collection is of value. This should be reviewed as circumstances change.  Significance assessment is

• a process to help with good management of items and collections; 
• it is a collaborative process and consultation is essential.
• it will substantiate justify assessments objectively rather than subjectively

The process is:

1. Collate information about the history and development of the collection
2. Research the history, scope and themes of the collection
3. Consult knowledgeable people
4. Explore the context of the collection
5. Analyse and describe the condition of the collection
6. Compare the collection with similar collections
7. Identify related places and collections
8. Assess significance against the criteria
9. Write a statement of significance
10. List recommendations and actions

Significance assessment is only the first part of the significance process. Once an item or collection has been assessed as significant, there will be a range of actions to better manage the collections.
 

Digital Preservation Matters.

Oops! Article preserved, references gone

Oops! Article preserved, references gone. Digital Preservation Seeds. February16, 2015.
A blog post concerning the article Scholarly Context Not Found: One in Five Articles Suffers from Reference Rot.  References in academic publications justify the argument. Missing references are a significant problem with the scholarly record because arguments and conclusions cannot be verified. In addition, missing or incomplete resources and information will devalue national and academic collections. The Significance method can be used to determine the value of collections. There is currently no robust solution, but a robustify script can direct broken links to Memento. The missing references problem emphasizes that without proper context, preserved information is incomplete.
 

Digital Preservation Matters.