Digital Curation for Science, Digital Libraries, and Individuals

The creation, management and use of digital materials are of increasing importance for a wide range of activities. Much of the knowledge base and intellectual assets of institutions and individuals are now in digital form. The term digital curation is increasingly being used for the actions needed to add value to and maintain these digital assets over time for current and future generations of users. The paper explores this emerging field of digital curation as an area of inter-disciplinary research and practice, and the trends which are influencing its development. It analyses the genesis of the term and how traditional roles relating to digital assets are in transition. Finally it explores some of the drivers for curation ranging from trends such as exponential growth in digital information, to "life-caching", digital preservation, the Grid and new opportunities for publishing, sharing, and re-using data. It concludes that significant effort needs to be put into developing a persistent information infrastructure for digital materials and into developing the digital curation skills of researchers and information professionals. Without this, current investment in digitisation and digital content will only secure short-term rather than lasting benefits

Digital Preservation, Archival Science and Methodological Foundations for Digital Libraries

Digital libraries, whether commercial, public or personal, lie at the heart of the information society. Yet, research into their long‐term viability and the meaningful accessibility of their contents remains in its infancy. In general, as we have pointed out elsewhere, ‘after more than twenty years of research in digital curation and preservation the actual theories, methods and technologies that can either foster or ensure digital longevity remain startlingly limited.’ Research led by DigitalPreservationEurope (DPE) and the Digital Preservation Cluster of DELOS has allowed us to refine the key research challenges – theoretical, methodological and technological – that need attention by researchers in digital libraries during the coming five to ten years, if we are to ensure that the materials held in our emerging digital libraries are to remain sustainable, authentic, accessible and understandable over time. Building on this work and taking the theoretical framework of archival science as bedrock, this paper investigates digital preservation and its foundational role if digital libraries are to have long‐term viability at the centre of the global information society.

Education alignment

This essay reviews recent developments in embedding data management and curation skills into information technology, library and information science, and research-based postgraduate courses in various national contexts. The essay also investigates means of joining up formal education with professional development training opportunities more coherently. The potential for using professional internships as a means of improving communication and understanding between disciplines is also explored. A key aim of this essay is to identify what level of complementarity is needed across various disciplines to most effectively and efficiently support the entire data curation lifecycle

LIBER's involvement in supporting digital preservation in member libraries

Digital curation and preservation represent new challenges for universities. LIBER has invested considerable effort to engage with the new agendas of digital preservation and digital curation. Through two successful phases of the LIFE project, LIBER is breaking new ground in identifying innovative models for costing digital curation and preservation. Through LIFE’s input into the US-UK Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sustainable Digital Preservation and Access, LIBER is aligned with major international work in the economics of digital preservation. In its emerging new strategy and structures, LIBER will continue to make substantial contributions in this area, mindful of the needs of European research libraries

Ahead of the CurV: digital curator vocational education

In this paper, we describe the work of the EC-funded DigCurV project. We examine the context of the project, the methods and findings of its extensive survey work, and the development of proposed frameworks for evaluating and delivering a digital curation curriculum

An Exploratory Sequential Mixed Methods Approach to Understanding Researchers’ Data Management Practices at UVM: Findings from the Qualitative Phase

The objective of this article is to report on the first qualitative phase of an exploratory sequential mixed methods research design focused on researcher data management practices and related institutional research data services. The aim of this study is to understand data management behaviors of faculty at the University of Vermont (UVM), a higher-research activity Research University, in order to guide the development of campus research data management services. The population of study was all faculty who received National Science Foundation (NSF) grants between 2011 and 2014 who were required to submit a data management plan (DMP); qualitative data was collected in two forms: (1) semi-structured interviews and (2) document analysis of data management plans. From a population of 47 researchers, six were included in the interview sample, representing a broad range of disciplines and NSF Directorates, and 35 data management plans were analyzed. Three major themes were identified through triangulation of qualitative data sources: data management activities, including data dissemination and data sharing; institutional research support and infrastructure barriers; and perceptions of data management plans and attitudes towards data management planning. The themes articulated in this article will be used to design a survey for the second quantitative phase of the study, which will aim to more broadly generalize data management activities at UVM across all disciplines

A Conceptual Model for Scholarly Research Activity

This paper presents a conceptual model for scholarly research activity, developed as part of the conceptual modelling work within the ???Preparing DARIAH??? European e-Infrastructures project. It is inspired by cultural-historical activity theory, and is expressed in terms of the CIDOC Conceptual Reference Model, extending its notion of activity so as to also account, apart from historical practice, for scholarly research planning. It is intended as a framework for structuring and analyzing the results of empirical research on scholarly practice and information requirements, encompassing the full research lifecycle of information work and involving both primary evidence and scholarly objects; also, as a framework for producing clear and pertinent information requirements, and specifications of digital infrastructures, tools and services for scholarly research. We plan to use the model to tag interview transcripts from an empirical study on scholarly information work, and thus validate its soundness and fitness for purpose

Libraries and the management of research data

A discussion of the role of university libraries in the management of digital research data outputs. Reviews some of the recent history of progress in this area from a UK perspective, with reference to international developments

Professional education for a digital world

Reviews developments in initial professional education for library and information work in relation to contemporary university library practice in the digital world, with particular reference to the impact of technology on content and delivery. Discusses connections between professional education and library practice, generalist versus specialist programmes and pathways, education for digital library environments and preparation for data management. Concludes that the current trend of locating library education programmes in schools with broader portfolios covering information technology and/or business offers valuable opportunities to extend module choice for students, particularly in relation to the technical skills and understanding needed for digital library environments

The Role of Evidence in Establishing Trust in Repositories

This article arises from work by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC) Working Group examining mechanisms to roll out audit and certification services for digital repositories in the United Kingdom. Our attempt to develop a program for applying audit and certification processes and tools took as its starting point the RLG-NARA Audit Checklist for Certifying Digital Repositories. Our intention was to appraise critically the checklist and conceive a means of applying its mechanics within a diverse range of repository environments. We were struck by the realization that while a great deal of effort has been invested in determining the characteristics of a 'trusted digital repository', far less effort has concentrated on the ways in which the presence of the attributes can be demonstrated and their qualities measured. With this in mind we sought to explore the role of evidence within the certification process, and to identify examples of the types of evidence (e.g., documentary, observational, and testimonial) that might be desirable during the course of a repository audit.