Report on the First International Workshop on Innovation in Digital Preservation (InDP 2009)

Information about several topics discussed at the First International Workshop on Innovation in Digital Preservation (InDP 2009) on June 19, 2009 in Austin, Texas is presented. Topics include the collection of digital objects, web pages transition, and digital preservation (DP). The workshop featured presenters Rudolf Mayer, Martin Klein and Dominick Heutelbeck

Das Digitale Langzeitarchiv im Bund

Vortrag im Rahmen des Workshops “Software-Lösungen zur Langzeitarchivierung und Repositorien-Verwaltung aus Anwendersicht“, Universtität Wien, 21.4.201

Digital Preservation Tools for Repository Managers 4: Putting storage, format management and preservation planning in the repository

The 5-module JISC KeepIt course on Digital Preservation Tools for Repository Managers was designed by repository managers. Each module consists of a mix of short presentations and hands-on exercises to learn about the basics and gain practice with each of the tools covered. Module 4 puts storage, format management and preservation planning in the repository, by making such functions available from within the familiar repository interface. Hitchcock's introduction briefly reviews the previous module, which acted as a primer on preservation workflow, formats and characterisation, as preparation for the preservation planning tools to be encountered in this module. This leads into an extensive practical tutorial on logical and bit-stream preservation using Plato (a preservation planning tool) and EPrints (software for creating digital repositories), which Rauber introduces with a rapid recap on the principles and reasons for digital preservation. Moving on to EPrints, Field presents a new 'hybrid' storage controller for EPrints providing selectable storage options locally and in the cloud. EPrints v3.2 introduces an abstracted storage layer which provides the ability for data hosting services such as Amazon S3 to be used as a storage back-end to EPrints. An accompanying tutorial leads users through some of the storage interfaces that EPrints can use, and also shows how to modify the storage policies. Tarrant places the process of managing formats and risk analysis in the EPrints repository interface. Another supporting exercise gives practical experience with the assignment of risk analysis scores to the discovered file formats to aid in digital preservation decisions. In this activity users are presented with a set of test files, a series of scanned images, for use throughout the remaining exercises. In a major element of this tutorial Rauber and Kulovits review preservation planning workflow, showing how to identify requirements using a mindmap approach and then how to upload the output to Plato, the preservation planning tool, to run experiments and produce results. Two exercises are outlined for users in the final 5 slides of the presentation, to describe the collection of test files provided previously, using the mindmap to define the requirements and to create the plan using Plato. The module completes with an exercise on preservation action (see document, no presentation slides), migrating selected files to new formats as identified in the plan. The preservation plan is uploaded to EPrints to act on the test files, displaying the results in an EPrints interface, also providing the means to review the preservation actions. Materials here include all presentations and supplementary materials to support the practicals, so the full course module can be experienced by other users

Digital Preservation: Logical and bit-stream preservation using Plato, EPrints and the Cloud

The rapid technological changes in today's information landscape have considerably turned the preservation of digital information into a pressing challenge. The aim of an institutional repository has evolved in the last decade from the simple need to provide material with a persistent online home, to an infrastructure that facilitates services on complex collections of digital objects. Digital librarians have long acknowledged the preservation function as a vital back office service that is central to the role of repository. However, preservation is often sidelined due to the practical constraints of running a repository. Dealing with institutional-scale ingests and quality assurance with minimal staff and investment rarely leaves sufficient capacity for engaging with a preservation agenda. A lot of different strategies, i.e. preservation actions, have been proposed to tackle this challenge: migration and emulation are the most prominent ones. However, which strategy to choose, and subsequently which tools to select to implement it, poses significant challenges. The creation of a concrete plan for preserving an institution's collection of digital objects requires the evaluation of possible preservation solutions against clearly defined and measurable criteria. This tutorial shows attendees the latest facilities in the EPrints open source repository platform for dealing with preservation tasks in a practical and achievable way, and new mechanisms for integrating the repository with the cloud and the user desktop, in order to be able to offer a trusted and managed storage solution to end users. Furthermore, attendees will create a preservation plan on the basis of a representative scenario and receive an accountable and informed recommendation for a particular preservation action. The whole preservation planning process will be supported by Plato, a decision support tool that implements a solid preservation planning approach and integrates services for content characterisation, preservation action and automatic object comparison to provide maximum support for preservation planning endeavours. The benefit of this tutorial is the grounding of digital curation advice and theory into achievable good practice that delivers helpful services to end users for their familiar personal desktop environments and new cloud services

Connecting preservation planning and Plato with digital repository interfaces

An accepted digital preservation workflow is emerging in which file formats are identified and those believed to be at risk are migrated to what are perceived to be less risky formats. This raises important questions about what to convert and when, if at all. In other words, how to connect file identification and migration. This area has become known as preservation planning, and seeks to take account of a wide variety of factors that might impact preservation decisions. Broadly there are two approaches to preservation planning. One provided in some digital preservation systems is to simplify and reduce both the number of file formats stored and therefore limit the number of preservation tools needed based on accepted recommendations. A more thorough, flexible and possibly complex approach, supported by the Plato preservation planning tool developed by the Planets project, allows decisions on preservation actions to combine analysis of the characteristics of different file formats with specific local requirements, such as costs and resources. This paper shows how Plato can be integrated with digital repository software, in this case EPrints, to enable this powerful approach to be used effectively to manage content in repositories of different sizes and with varying degrees of preservation expertise and support. These tools are accessed via a common repository interface to enable repository managers, and others who do not specialise in preservation, to moderate decisions on preservation planning and to control preservation actions

EVALUATION OF BIT PRESERVATION STRATEGIES: Paper - iPres 2010 - Vienna

This article describes a methodology which supports evaluation of bit preservation strategies for different digital materials. This includes evaluation of alternative bit preservation solutions. The methodology presented uses the preservation planning tool Plato for evaluations, and a BR-ReMS prototype to calculate measures for how well bit preservation requirements are met. Planning storage of different types of data as part of preservation planning involves classification of the data with regard to requirements on confidentiality, bit safety, availability and costs. Selection of storage parameters is quite complex since e.g. more copies of data means better bit safety, but higher cost and higher risk of compromising confidentiality. Based on a case study of a bit repository offering differentiated bit preservation solutions, the article will present results of using the methodology to make plans and choices of alternatives for different digital material with different requirements for bit integrity and confidentiality. This study shows that the methodology, including the tools used, is suitable for this purpose