Digital Preservation Education in iSchools

This poster investigates digital preservation education in the iSchool caucus. The project identifies core concepts addressed in digital preservation coursework in iSchools and identifies possible areas for curriculum development. Digital preservation education at the graduate level is critical. To ensure long-term access and use of digital materials, information professionals must have a working knowledge of digital curation, which emphasizes a lifecycle approach to digital preservation [1]. Unfortunately, the topic of digital preservation education is not prominent in literature about digital curation. Only a handful of case studies and recommendations have been published regarding digital preservation education within information science, library science, and computer science graduate programs. Instead, much of the work on digital preservation education is contained in more general studies on educating digital librarians or electronic records managers. To understand how to better design curricula that engages central issues of digital curation at the graduate level, an investigation of the current state of digital preservation education is warranted. Coursework devoted solely to digital preservation is essential for graduate students in information-centric disciplines. The necessity for devoted coursework is due to the complex and multifaceted nature of the topic. Unfortunately, a 2006 study found that very few library or information science schools offered courses specifically on the topic of digital preservation. Furthermore, an extremely small percentage of students in library or information science programs had exposure to the critical aspects of digital preservation during their coursework [2]. Digital preservation education can and should be studied in iSchools. The core mission of the iSchool movement is to connect people, information, and technology [3]. Digital curation supports this mission by enabling the continued maintenance of digital information resources throughout their lifecycle, allowing them to be rendered and re-used in the long-term. It is an interdisciplinary process that hinges on expertise from many different fields, including computer science, information and library science, informatics, management, and education. Furthermore, iSchools are a natural home for digital library education [4] and there are significant overlaps between digital library education and digital curation education [5]. It follows that iSchools are an excellent venue for research on the topic of digital preservation education. This project examines digital preservation courses in iSchools over the past five years (2005-2009). Course descriptions and syllabi are examined in order to develop a definition of current practices in digital preservation education. Based on this definition, areas for future developments in digital preservation curricula are identified. Course catalogs from the 26 iSchools have been analyzed to determine whether or not schools offer classes specifically on the topic of digital preservation. Of the 26 iSchools, 9 schools offer degrees in information science and in library science, 6 award degrees in information science but not in library science, and 5 award degrees in library science and not information science. The remaining 6 schools offer a variety of degrees, including computer science, information management, and information technology. These categories will be useful in determining what types of iSchools, if any, are leaders in digital preservation education. All of the schools that have been examined to date offer course catalogs and course descriptions on the open web. Many of the course syllabi are also available online. The course must contain the phrase ???Digital Preservation??? in its title or course description in order to be included. One-shot sessions and classes that deal with a subset of digital preservation, such as classes on digital libraries, are not considered. Course themes and assignments are compared to the DigCCurr Matrix of Digital Curation Knowledge and Competencies. This six-dimensional matrix from the University of North Carolina DigCCurr project defines and organizes materials to be covered in digital curation coursework [6]. This analysis will identify current strengths and potential areas for further development in digital preservation education. The study will also address the question of where current digital preservation course materials fit within the larger scope of digital curation knowledge and competencies

Building strategic alliances to support advocacy and planning for digital preservation

While the business benefits of digital asset management are well-documented, the benefits and importance of digital preservation are not. Digital preservation is a sustained commitment to maintenance activities which require a system of plans, policies, and implementation workflows. Coordination across departments is helpful for digital asset management, but it is mandatory for digital preservation. The Montana Digital Preservation Working Group (DPWG) operated under a five-point plan for collaboration between organizations. The plan consisted of cultivating shared knowledge, assessing the current digital preservation landscape at each institution, advocating for the value of digital preservation, implementing digital preservation practices, and sustaining the partnership by developing structures for ongoing projects and mutual support. In this article, the five-point plan for collaboration used by DPWG is adapted to build alliances in four key areas of an organization: the Project and Process Team, the Management Team, the Executive Team, and the Information Technology Team. By building strategic alliances that support digital preservation advocacy and planning, information managers extend their reach and resources, ultimately leading to more robust preservation of valuable digital assets

Digital Preservation and Access of Natural Resources Documents

Digitization and preservation of natural resource documents were reviewed and the current status of digitization presented for a North American university. It is important to present the status of the digitation process for natural resources and to advocate for increased collections of digital material for ease of reference and exchange of information. Digital collections need to include both published documents and ancillary material for research projects and data for future use and interpretation. The methods in this paper can be applied to other natural resource collections increasing their use and distribution. The process of decision making for documents and their preservation and inclusion in ScholarWorks is presented as a part of the Forest Sciences Commons as a subset of the Life Sciences Commons of the Digital Commons Open Network launched and maintained by bepress. Digitization has increased the roles and skillsets needed for librarians and from libraries. This creates new challenges and opportunities for the library as publisher and as an advocate for open access. Digital curation melds together digitization and knowledge management and enhances community engagement. Digitization of collections are reviewed and natural resource documentation presented for faculty publications, Research Projects and Centers, eBooks, Journals, Galleries and electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs). Recommendations are made to increase the digital curation of the collection by encouraging community participation and use. Digital archives are important to natural resource professionals as society-ready natural resource graduates need to deal effectively with complex ecological, economic and social issues of current natural resources management. Natural resource research for the future needs to ensure that professionals have a greater breath of knowledge as they interpret and apply new knowledge, understanding, and technology to complex, transdisciplinary social and biological issues and challenges

Exploring digital preservation requirements: a case study from the National Geoscience Data Centre (NGDC)

Purpose This case study is based on an MSc dissertation research undertaken at Northumbria University. The aim was to explore digital preservation requirements within the wider NGDC organisational framework in preparation for developing a preservation policy and integrating associated preservation workflows throughout the existing research data management processes. Design/methodology/approach This mixed methods case study used quantitative and qualitative data to explore the preservation requirements and triangulation to strengthen the design validity. Corporate and the wider scientific priorities were identified through literature and a stakeholder survey. Organisational preparedness was investigated through staff interviews. Findings Stakeholders expect data to be reliable, reusable, and available in preferred formats. To ensure digital continuity, the creation of high quality metadata is critical, and data depositors need data management training to achieve this. Recommendations include completing a risk assessment, creating a digital asset register, and a technology watch to mitigate against risks. Research limitations/implications The main constraint in this study is the lack of generalisability of results. As the NGDC is a unique organisation, it may not be possible to generalise the organisational findings although those relating to research data management may be transferrable. Originality/value This research examines the specific nature of geoscience data retention requirements and looks at existing NGDC procedures in terms of enhancing digital continuity, providing new knowledge on the preservation requirements for a number of national datasets

Expressing the tacit knowledge of a digital library system as linked data

Library organizations have enthusiastically undertaken semantic web initiatives and in particular the data publishing as linked data. Nevertheless, different surveys report the experimental nature of initiatives and the consumer difficulty in re-using data. These barriers are a hindrance for using linked datasets, as an infrastructure that enhances the library and related information services. This paper presents an approach for encoding, as a Linked Vocabulary, the "tacit" knowledge of the information system that manages the data source. The objective is the improvement of the interpretation process of the linked data meaning of published datasets. We analyzed a digital library system, as a case study, for prototyping the "semantic data management" method, where data and its knowledge are natively managed, taking into account the linked data pillars. The ultimate objective of the semantic data management is to curate the correct consumers' interpretation of data, and to facilitate the proper re-use. The prototype defines the ontological entities representing the knowledge, of the digital library system, that is not stored in the data source, nor in the existing ontologies related to the system's semantics. Thus we present the local ontology and its matching with existing ontologies, Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) and Metadata Objects Description Schema (MODS), and we discuss linked data triples prototyped from the legacy relational database, by using the local ontology. We show how the semantic data management, can deal with the inconsistency of system data, and we conclude that a specific change in the system developer mindset, it is necessary for extracting and "codifying" the tacit knowledge, which is necessary to improve the data interpretation process

Institutional Repository Use of Vendor-Based Solutions Relating to Technical Knowledge and Digital Curation

Institutional repositories (IRs) are digital collections that curate and disseminate the intellectual output of an institution. They play a significant role in the open access movement and in providing access to research and scholarly outputs. Vendor-based systems (VBSs) are a popular option for managing IRs. VBSs offer a number of advantages, including scalability, security, and support. However, they are expensive and require a high degree of technical knowledge for staff to extend the IR collections into digital preservation workflows. This paper examines the impact of VBSs on digital curation and preservation in IRs. The paper begins by providing an overview of IRs and VBSs. It then discusses the benefits and drawbacks of VBSs relating to the executable connectivity for digital curation and preservation by digital librarians. Finally, the paper presents the results of a survey that gauged current technical knowledge and other aspects of those working in the librarian roles of digital curation/preservation, asset management, and institutional repository management of scholarly digital assets. The analysis of the survey suggests several factors that inhibit IRs from utilizing VBSs to their fullest for digital curation and preservation. Overall, a VBS is a valuable tool for digital curation and preservation in IRs if gaps in technical knowledge, increased resources, and stakeholder support are improved

Digital curation skills in the performing arts: an investigation of practitioner awareness and knowledge of digital object management and preservation

This study examines the digital curation awareness and practice of a sample of practitioners from the UK performing arts community. Twelve performance arts practitioners from across the United Kingdom were interviewed to establish understanding of whether, why and how they create and manage digital objects in the course of their creative work. Detailed qualitative data from this series of one-to-one interviews about the actual and intended digital curation practices of these performance arts practitioners establish what they understand about sustainable management of digital objects, and also which digital curation activities they actually include in their working processes. This knowledge is supplemented with some preliminary exploration of the types of digital resources that are sought and used by performance arts practitioners, in order to understand whether there is a comparable appetite for the creation and for the reuse of digital objects in this field. Questions in the interview identify the sources used by practitioners when attempting to access digital objects created by others as part of research for their own creative work. This provides a ‘practitioner's-eye view’ of performance collections; that is to say, the resources used by practitioners as collections for research, irrespective of the formal designation or intended purpose of such resources. Here, this enquiry is set into the broader context of digital curation and preservation. The approach to the interviewing is described, findings are discussed and the presence of possible skills and knowledge gaps is presented. Concluding remarks indicate the implications of these indicative findings for the representation of performance arts practice for current and future generations, and suggest useful future areas of enquiry

Business Process Risk Management and Simulation Modelling for Digital Audio-Visual Media Preservation.

Digitised and born-digital Audio-Visual (AV) content presents new challenges for preservation and Quality Assurance (QA) to ensure that cultural heritage is accessible for the long term. Digital archives have developed strategies for avoiding, mitigating and recovering from digital AV loss using IT-based systems, involving QA tools before ingesting files into the archive and utilising file-based replication to repair files that may be damaged while in the archive. However, while existing strategies are effective for addressing issues related to media degradation, issues such as format obsolescence and failures in processes and people pose significant risk to the long-term value of digital AV content. We present a Business Process Risk management framework (BPRisk) designed to support preservation experts in managing risks to long-term digital media preservation. This framework combines workflow and risk specification within a single risk management process designed to support continual improvement of workflows. A semantic model has been developed that allows the framework to incorporate expert knowledge from both preservation and security experts in order to intelligently aid workflow designers in creating and optimising workflows. The framework also provides workflow simulation functionality, allowing users to a) understand the key vulnerabilities in the workflows, b) target investments to address those vulnerabilities, and c) minimise the economic consequences of risks. The application of the BPRisk framework is demonstrated on a use case with the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation (ORF), discussing simulation results and an evaluation against the outcomes of executing the planned workflow

Expanding the Roles of Libraries: A Review of Institutional Repository in Promoting and Preserving Academic Research

Institutional repository is a new scholarly publishing model for researchers and academic institutions. The idea is conceived to enable broader access and dissemination of knowledge as well as preservation for future use, which are the core roles of traditional libraries. However, digital technology facilitates the adoption of institutional repository and makes libraries responsible for its management. Thus, libraries have reclaimed their function of preserving knowledge which has hitherto been hindered by digital right management policies whose emphasis is on access rather than ownership, and which has prohibited libraries from claiming ownership of subscribed materials. Institutional repository roles in enhancing academic research, faculty-librarian collaboration, library services and collections, as well as the roles of libraries in promoting and preserving academic research knowledge for posterity cannot be undermined. To achieve these laudable roles, preservation policy for repositories is of paramount importance. The study thus provides a review of different literatures to explore the key roles of institutional repositories in promoting academic research. The review of literature revealed that lack of adoption of repository policies pose challenges to institutional repositories in the preservation of academic research. The analysis of the Registry of Open Access Repository Mandates and Policies (ROARMAP) statistics showed a partial adoption of repository policies among research institutions. It is recommended that adoption of preservation policies for repository content should spread across borders and form prerequisite for establishing institutional repositories. This review suggested other factors to consider in improving the implementation of institutional repository policies towards preserving academic research