Applying the TIMBUS Approach to Preserving Context in Digital Libraries

To date, digital preservation has generally focused on the preservation of specific data in the form of artefacts. However, in order to ensure that this data is accessible in the long term, it is vital that we consider how to extract and preserve information on the software and hardware contexts which this data depends upon to operate. We therefore need tools to assist in identifying, preserving and validating the processes which underpin the creation of data in digital libraries. In particular, we need to consider the importance of preserving not just individual digital artefacts, but the platforms which allow digital libraries to render or execute their items. Digital libraries rely on this software to render their items, and it is therefore important to know configuration details and software dependencies to ensure these items remain fully operational in the future. In the case of digital libraries, the TIMBUS framework provides the tools necessary to assist practitioners in identifying relevant processes, undertake risk analysis, and then to assist the user in extracting, preserving and revalidating the necessary processes. This half-day tutorial introduces the TIMBUS approach to process preservation, and demonstrates how it can be applied to issues relating to digital libraries. TIMBUS focuses primarily on business processes, but this tutorial will show its approach to process-oriented preservation is also relevant to digital libraries. It provides a methodology for process preservation and a set of tools which help to semi-automatically validate and preserve processes so that they can be recreated at a later dat. Participants will be given the knowledge to understand the importance of technical environments for collection items, and learn more about the TIMBUS solutions through examples relevant to the digital library domain. They will also gain an understanding of digital preservation as a risk mitigation strategy

Evaluation of the dynamic construct competition miner for an eHealth system

Business processes of some domains are highly dynamic and increasingly complex due to their dependencies on a multitude of services provided by various providers. The quality of services directly impacts the business process’s efficiency. A first prerequisite for any optimization initiative requires a better understanding of the deployed business processes. However, the business processes are either not documented at all or are only poorly documented. Since the actual behaviour of the business processes and underlying services can change over time it is required to detect the dynamically changing behaviour in order to carry out correct analyses. This paper presents and evaluates the integration of the Dynamic Construct Competition Miner (DCCM) as process monitor in the TIMBUS architecture. The DCCM discovers business processes and recognizes changes directly from an event stream at run-time. The evaluation is carried out in the context of an industrial use-case from the eHealth domain. We will describe the key aspects of the use-case and the DCCM as well as present the relevant evaluation results

Applying the TIMBUS Approach to Preserving Context in Digital Libraries

To date, digital preservation has generally focused on the preservation of specific data in the form of artefacts. However, in order to ensure that this data is accessible in the long term, it is vital that we consider how to extract and preserve information on the software and hardware contexts which this data depends upon to operate. We therefore need tools to assist in identifying, preserving and validating the processes which underpin the creation of data in digital libraries. In particular, we need to consider the importance of preserving not just individual digital artefacts, but the platforms which allow digital libraries to render or execute their items. Digital libraries rely on this software to render their items, and it is therefore important to know configuration details and software dependencies to ensure these items remain fully operational in the future. In the case of digital libraries, the TIMBUS framework provides the tools necessary to assist practitioners in identifying relevant processes, undertake risk analysis, and then to assist the user in extracting, preserving and revalidating the necessary processes. This half-day tutorial introduces the TIMBUS approach to process preservation, and demonstrates how it can be applied to issues relating to digital libraries. TIMBUS focuses primarily on business processes, but this tutorial will show its approach to process-oriented preservation is also relevant to digital libraries. It provides a methodology for process preservation and a set of tools which help to semi-automatically validate and preserve processes so that they can be recreated at a later dat. Participants will be given the knowledge to understand the importance of technical environments for collection items, and learn more about the TIMBUS solutions through examples relevant to the digital library domain. They will also gain an understanding of digital preservation as a risk mitigation strategy

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

The Digital Dark Ages: Preserving History in the Era of Electronic Records

There is mounting concern that, due to the rapid pace of technological advancement and the volatile nature of digital media, electronic records of enduring value will be lost if they are not identified for preservation and managed accordingly. If this issue remains unresolved, organizations face a future digital dark age where valuable information assets and cultural history are lost forever. This paper explores the digital preservation need with respect to public higher education institutions through literature review and a survey of practitioners. Several major government-sponsored projects were reviewed, providing insights into the complexity and scale of the issue with none of the projects able to fully address all issues. Results indicate that organizations are insufficiently prepared to identify electronic records of enduring value so that digital preservation techniques may be applied. Recommendations are provided for Information Systems professionals to address this burgeoning need

Building information modeling – A game changer for interoperability and a chance for digital preservation of architectural data?

Digital data associated with the architectural design-andconstruction process is an essential resource alongside -and even past- the lifecycle of the construction object it describes. Despite this, digital architectural data remains to be largely neglected in digital preservation research – and vice versa, digital preservation is so far neglected in the design-and-construction process. In the last 5 years, Building Information Modeling (BIM) has seen a growing adoption in the architecture and construction domains, marking a large step towards much needed interoperability. The open standard IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) is one way in which data is exchanged in BIM processes. This paper presents a first digital preservation based look at BIM processes, highlighting the history and adoption of the methods as well as the open file format standard IFC (Industry Foundation Classes) as one way to store and preserve BIM data

DePICT : a conceptual model for digital preservation

Digital Preservation addresses a significant threat to our cultural and economic foundation: the loss of access to valuable and, sometimes, unique information that is captured in digital form through obsolescence, deterioration or loss of information of how to access the contents. Digital Preservation has been defined as “The series of managed activities necessary to ensure continued access to digital materials for as long as necessary” (Jones, Beagrie, 2001/2008). This thesis develops a conceptual model of the core concepts and constraints that appear in digital preservation - DePICT (Digital PreservatIon ConceptualisaTion). This includes a conceptual model of the digital preservation domain, a top-level vocabulary for the concepts in the model, an in-depth analysis of the role of digital object properties, characteristics, and the constraints that guide digital preservation processes, and of how properties, characteristics and constraints affect the interaction of digital preservation services. In addition, it presents a machine-interpretable XML representation of this conceptual model to support automated digital preservation tools. Previous preservation models have focused on preserving technical properties of digital files. Such an approach limits the choices of preservation actions and does not fully reflect preservation activities in practice. Organisations consider properties that go beyond technical aspects and that encompass a wide range of factors that influence and guide preservation processes, including organisational, legal, and financial ones. Consequently, it is necessary to be able to handle ‘digital’ objects in a very wide sense, including abstract objects, such as intellectual entities and collections, in addition to the files and sets of files that create renditions of logical objects that are normally considered. In addition, we find that not only the digital objects' properties, but also the properties of the environments in which they exist, guide digital preservation processes. Furthermore, organisations use risk-based analysis for their preservation strategies, policies and preservation planning. They combine information about risks with an understanding of actions that are expected to mitigate the risks. Risk and action specifications can be dependent on properties of the actions, as well as on properties of objects or environments which form the input and output of those actions. The model presented here supports this view explicitly. It links risks with the actions that mitigate them and expresses them in stakeholder specific constraints. Risk, actions and constraints are top-level entities in this model. In addition, digital objects and environments are top-level entities on an equal level. Models that do not have this property limit the choice of preservation actions to ones that transform a file in order to mitigate a risk. Establishing environments as top-level entities enables us to treat risks to objects, environments, or a combination of both. The DePICT model is the first conceptual model in the Digital Preservation domain that supports a comprehensive, whole life-cycle approach for dynamic, interacting preservation processes, rather than taking the customary and more limited view that is concerned with the management of digital objects once they are stored in a long-term repository.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

An ontology supporting planning, analysis, and simulation of evolving Digital Ecosystems

This paper introduces the PERICLES model-driven approach for the long-term preservation of digital objects in evolving ecosystems. It describes the Digital Ecosystem Model (DEM), an ontology to model those complex digital entities (DEs) and the EcoBuilder tool to support scenario experts in modelling aspects of interests of their DEs with the DEM for further investigation and maintenance

Digitaalse teadmuse arhiveerimine – teoreetilis-praktiline uurimistöö Rahvusarhiivi näitel

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsioone.Digitaalse informatsiooni pidevalt kiirenev juurdekasv on aidanud rõhutada ka olulise informatsiooni säilitamise vajadust. Säilitamine ei tähenda siinkohal pelgalt füüsilist varundamist, vaid ka informatsiooni kasutatavuse ja mõistetavuse tagamist. See tähendab, et tegelikkuses on vaja hoolitseda ka selle eest, et meil oleks olemas vajalik riist- ja tarkvara arhiveeritud teabe kasutamiseks. Kui seda ei ole, siis saab mõningatel juhtudel kasutada emulaatoreid, mis matkivad konkreetset aegunud süsteemi ja võimaldavad niiviisi vanu faile avada. Samas, kui tehnoloogia iganemist on võimalik ette näha, siis oleks mõistlik failid juba varakult püsivamasse vormingusse ümber konverteerida või andmekandja kaasaegsema vastu vahetada. Nii emuleerimine, konverteerimine kui ka nende kombineerimine aitavad säilitada informatsiooni kasutatavust, kuid ei pruugi tagada autentset mõistetavust, kuna digitaalse teabe esitus sõltub alati säilitatud bittide tõlgendamisest. Näiteks, kui luua WordPad tarkvara abil üks dokument ja avada seesama dokument Hex Editor Neo abil, siis näeme seda faili kahendkujul, Notepad++ näitab RTFi kodeeringut, Microsoft Word 2010 ja LibreOffice Writeri esitustes võime märgata juba mitmeid erinevusi. Kõik eelloetletud esitused on tehnoloogilises mõttes õiged. Faili avamisel veateateid ei teki, sest tarkvara seisukohast lähtudes peavadki esitused sellised olema. Siinjuures oluline rõhutada, et ka korrektne esitus võib jääda kasutajale mõistetamatuks – see, et andmed on säilinud, et neid on võimalik lugeda ja esitada, ei garanteeri paraku, et neid õigesti mõistetakse. Mõistetavuse tagamiseks tuleb alati arvestada ka lõppkasutajaskonnaga. Seetõttu uuribki antud töö võimalusi, kuidas toetada teadmuse (mõistetava informatsiooni) digitaalset arhiveerimist tuginedes eelkõige parimale praktikale, praktilistele eksperimentidele Rahvusarhiivis ja interdistsiplinaarsetele (nt infotehnoloogia kombineerimine arhiivindusega) võtetele.Digital preservation of knowledge is a very broad and complex research area. Many aspects are still open for research. According to the literature, the accessibility and usability of digital information have been more investigated than the comprehensibility of important digital information over time. Although there are remedies (e.g. emulation and migration) for mitigating the risks related to the accessibility and usability, the question how to guarantee understandability/comprehensibility of archived information is still ongoing research. Understanding digital information first requires a representation of the archived information, so that a user could then interpret and understand it. However, it is a not-so-well-known fact that the digital information does not have any fixed representation before involving some software. For example, if we create a document in WordPad and open the same file in Hex Editor Neo software, then we will see the binary representation which is also correct but not suitable for human users, as humans are not used to interpreting binary codes. When we open that file in Notepad++, then we can see the structure of the RTF coding. Again, this is the correct interpretation of this file, but not understandable for the ordinary user, as it shows the technical view of the file format structure. When we open that file in Microsoft Word 2010 or LibreOffice Writer, then we will notice some changes, although the original bits are the same and no errors are displayed by the software. Thus, all representations are technologically correct and no errors will be displayed to the user when they are opening this file. It is important to emphasise that in some cases even the original representation may be not understandable to the users. Therefore, it is important to know who the main users of the archives are and to ensure that the archived objects are independently understandable to that community over the long term. This dissertation will therefore research meaningful use of digital objects by taking into account the designated users’ knowledge and Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model. The research also includes several practical experimental projects at the National Archives of Estonia which will test some important parts of the theoretical work

Towards Emulation-as-a-Service: Cloud Services for Versatile Digital Object Access

The changing world of IT services opens the chance to more tightly integrate digital long-term preservation into systems, both for commercial and end users. The emergence of cloud offerings re-centralizes services, and end users interact with them remotely through standardized (web-)client applications on their various devices. This offers the chance to use partially the same concepts and methods to access obsolete computer environments and allows for more sustainable business processes. In order to provide a large variety of user-friendly remote emulation services, especially in combination with authentic performance and user experience, a distributed system model and architecture is required, suitable to run as a cloud service, allowing for the specialization both of memory institutions and third party service providers.The shift of the usually non-trivial task of the emulation of obsolete software environments from the end user to specialized providers can help to simplify digital preservation and access strategies. Besides offering their users better access to their holdings, libraries and archives may gain new business opportunities to offer services to a third party, such as businesses requiring authentic reproduction of digital objects and processes for legal reasons. This paper discusses cloud concepts as the next logical step for accessing original digital material. Emulation-as-a-Service (EaaS) fills the gap between the successful demonstration of emulation strategies as a long term access strategy and it’s perceived availability and usability. EaaS can build upon the ground of research and prototypical implementations of previous projects, and reuse well established remote access technology.In this article we develop requirements and a system model, suitable for a distributed environment. We will discuss the building blocks of the core services as well as requirements regarding access management. Finally, we will try to present a business model and estimate costs to implement and run such a service. The implementations of EaaS will influence future preservation planning in memory institutions, as it shifts the focus on object access workflows