Digital preservation auditing metrics as design tools for digital repositories

Collaboration via partnership in a consortium and in outsourcing are common aspects in building and maintaining a trusted digital repository. Such collaboration is overlooked in most digital preservation auditing metrics. This not only prevents the possibility of formal certification, but not including third-party participation in the standards implies that there are no standards for negotiating contracts and delineating the roles of partners. This thesis examines the ongoing project Digital Safe, a project in development at Oxford that aims to be a service for storing confidential information. In two case studies, the author employs the Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC) and the Data Seal of Approval (DSA) to inform the development of Digital Safe and its relationships with third-party vendors. The major goal is to examine how various roles between an institution and third-parties can be delegated based on the necessary standards. This is useful first for helping develop contracts with vendors and understanding exact responsibilities in partnerships. Second, it facilitates a better understanding of the limitations of current auditing metrics. The case studies reveal that both TRAC and DSA can provide a means for defining roles in partnerships, TRAC being more complex and DSA being more theoretical. Second, the documentation for audit standards is reliant on OAIS reference model, which limits their use in consortia, dark archives, and other specific repositories. The case studies also clarify the type of evidence most appropriate to have and develop in the planning stages for a digital repository. These findings point to future work in a revision of how audit standards are used, specifically indicating their use-value as development tools in addition to assessment tools. The addition of third-party support to these standards could facilitate a better guide to interacting with third parties during planning stages, and ultimately improve digital preservation standards and the trustworthiness of repositories

Exploring the Benefits for Users of Linked Open Data for Digitized Special Collections: Benchmark case studies of two digital library websites

This report presents the results from a pair of case studies conducted as part of the Exploring the benefits for users of Linked Open Data for digitized special collections project. Each case study was produced from a series of interviews with users of digital special collections. The case studies compare the Motley Collection of Theatre & Costume Design1 (Motley) to the Harvard Theatre Collection2 and the Kolb-Proust Archive for Research3 (KPA) to the Bovary Manuscript Archive4 respectively. Each of the users was a volunteer and was asked to compare to digital collection websites to one another during the course of completing a series of user tasks which included assessing the overall layout and utility of each digital collection’s interface, searching for a specific resource, and characterizing how they might employ the collections in their research.Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Award No. 31500650Ope

Exploring the Benefits for Users of Linked Open Data for Digitized Special Collections, White paper #1: Transforming special collections metadata into linked open data: mappings, entity reconciliation, workflows implemented & lessons learned

Transforming and migrating legacy metadata for special collections to a linked data compatible ontology requires metadata remediation, enhancement, and mapping. Entity reconciliation (adding the links) is a critical component as well. The first part of this white paper summarizes the mappings and workflows developed for our three digital special collections (Motley Collection of Theatre and Costume Design, Portraits of Actors, and the Kolb-Proust Archive Research), the challenges encountered, and solutions identified for these challenges. The second part of this white paper describes entity reconciliation approaches used to discover links to more information about the entities mentioned in the metadata.Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Award No. 31500650Ope

Exploring the Benefits for Users of Linked Open Data for Digitized Special Collections, White paper #2: Analysis of Early User Feedback

This paper reports on a research study conducted to evaluate experimental, LOD-based features of digital special collections, which investigated the question: how do these features affect the use of digital collections for research? Because humanities researchers are the primary user group for cultural collections, this study focused on what humanities researchers might gain from LOD-based enhancements to digital collections.Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Award No. 31500650Ope

Telesis 2021

Front Matter: This edition of Telesis, the University of Oklahoma Gibbs College of Architecture student journal, explores the theme of "Isolation."Editorial: The Telesis Team introduces Telesis: Isolation.Association: Randall Kinnaman shares his childhood experiences of visiting his incarcerated father at various prison visitation centers.Disorientation: Giuliana Vaccarino Gearty explores the positive outcomes from feeling lost in a city.Dismantling: Travis Howell and Tanner Pickens share the history of Oklahoma City’s Deep Deuce and Interstate 235.Engagement: Kate O’Connor introduces Marywood University’s Socially Responsible Architecture seminar.Food Fight: Rebecca Doglas combats food deserts.Drops: Ian Goodale provides shelter to the homeless.Displacement: Ben Gravel provides shelter for those displaced by California Wildfires.Schematics: Ryan Godfrey proposes inclusive design schematics for people with autism.Villa: Candelaria Mas Pohmajevic examines COVID 19 outbreaks in Argentina’s Shanty Towns.Rehabilitation: David Swaby investigates prison rehabilitation in the form of educational programs.Chair: Jake Lange explores the importance of agency in processes of rehabilitation.Incarceration: Emily Hays calls designers to no longer be complicit in the design of carceral facilities.Tunnel: Johanna Hilmes explores the benefits of incorporating color in prison design.Interview: Alex Finklestein interviews Dr. Jae James regarding his experience of incarceration and resultant ambitions.N

Mortality and pulmonary complications in patients undergoing surgery with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection: an international cohort study

Background: The impact of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) on postoperative recovery needs to be understood to inform clinical decision making during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports 30-day mortality and pulmonary complication rates in patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection. Methods: This international, multicentre, cohort study at 235 hospitals in 24 countries included all patients undergoing surgery who had SARS-CoV-2 infection confirmed within 7 days before or 30 days after surgery. The primary outcome measure was 30-day postoperative mortality and was assessed in all enrolled patients. The main secondary outcome measure was pulmonary complications, defined as pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, or unexpected postoperative ventilation. Findings: This analysis includes 1128 patients who had surgery between Jan 1 and March 31, 2020, of whom 835 (74·0%) had emergency surgery and 280 (24·8%) had elective surgery. SARS-CoV-2 infection was confirmed preoperatively in 294 (26·1%) patients. 30-day mortality was 23·8% (268 of 1128). Pulmonary complications occurred in 577 (51·2%) of 1128 patients; 30-day mortality in these patients was 38·0% (219 of 577), accounting for 81·7% (219 of 268) of all deaths. In adjusted analyses, 30-day mortality was associated with male sex (odds ratio 1·75 [95% CI 1·28–2·40], p\textless0·0001), age 70 years or older versus younger than 70 years (2·30 [1·65–3·22], p\textless0·0001), American Society of Anesthesiologists grades 3–5 versus grades 1–2 (2·35 [1·57–3·53], p\textless0·0001), malignant versus benign or obstetric diagnosis (1·55 [1·01–2·39], p=0·046), emergency versus elective surgery (1·67 [1·06–2·63], p=0·026), and major versus minor surgery (1·52 [1·01–2·31], p=0·047). Interpretation: Postoperative pulmonary complications occur in half of patients with perioperative SARS-CoV-2 infection and are associated with high mortality. Thresholds for surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic should be higher than during normal practice, particularly in men aged 70 years and older. Consideration should be given for postponing non-urgent procedures and promoting non-operative treatment to delay or avoid the need for surgery. Funding: National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland, Bowel and Cancer Research, Bowel Disease Research Foundation, Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons, British Association of Surgical Oncology, British Gynaecological Cancer Society, European Society of Coloproctology, NIHR Academy, Sarcoma UK, Vascular Society for Great Britain and Ireland, and Yorkshire Cancer Research

Auditing a Dark Archive: Digital Preservation Auditing Metrics as Design Tools

The author compares two tools for assessing digital collections, TRAC (Trustworthy Repository Audit and Certification) and DSA (Data Seal of Approval) + nestor Seal. Her time working on digital projects at Oxford University and observing their Digital Safe, a standard for securing data, sparked her personal research.Ope

Auditing a dark archive

As digital collection-building projects have become a focus for libraries in the digital age, there is a noted lack of uniformity in their method of construction. The standards for digital preservation are just recently beginning to formalize, but this only extends to completed, established projects. In a case study at the University of Oxford, the Trustworthy Repository Audit and Certification checklist is applied to the project Digital Safe to determine if existing digital auditing metrics can act as a scoping exercise for developing digital projects. Digital Safe is an incomplete dark archive, making it a unique subject to audit. This case study focused on how TRAC aligned with the goals of the project and if it highlighted new aspects of concentration. This approach to auditing an incomplete digital project is challenging because of the lack of material and cohesion of the dark archive, which could be a useful tool for those thinking about or currently developing a digital collection

3D Metadata Schema

Supplemental materials for Web3D paper - Levels of Representation and Data Infrastructures in Entomo-3D: An applied research approach to addressing metadata curation issues to support preservation and access of 3D. One 3D metadata schema and three dataset pipeline figures</p

Hydrogen-isotopic variability in lipids from Santa Barbara Basin sediments

We conducted an extensive survey of hydrogen-isotopic compositions (D/H ratios) of diverse sedimentary lipids from the Santa Barbara Basin (SBB), offshore southern California. The main goal of this survey was to assess the diversity of D/H ratios in lipids from marine sediments, in order to provide a more detailed understanding of relevant biological and geochemical factors impacting lipid isotopic variability. A total of 1182 individual δD values are reported from two stations in SBB, one located in the suboxic basin depocenter and the other on the fully oxic flank of the basin. Sediments collected from the basin depocenter span a depth of not, vert, similar2.5 m and reach the methanogenic zone. Lipids that were analyzed include n-alkanes, n-alkanols and alkenols, short- and long-chain fatty acids, linear isoprenoids, steroids, and hopanoids, and exhibit several systematic patterns. First, there are no significant differences in δD values between the two sampling locations, nor with increasing depth for most lipids, indicating that degradation does not influence sedimentary lipid δD values. Second, relatively large differences in δD values among differing molecular structures are observed in all samples. n-Alkyl lipids of probable marine origin have typical δD values between −150 and −200‰, those from terrestrial leaf waxes and aquatic plants range from −80 to −170‰, while petroleum n-alkanes are typically −90 to −150‰. Third, lipids inferred to derive from bacteria (branched fatty acids and hopanols) living at the sediment surface or in the water column tend to be D-enriched relative to similar algal products by 30‰ or more. At the same time, several other lipids have δD values that decrease strongly with depth, presumably as a result of in situ production by anaerobic bacteria. This dichotomy in isotopic compositions of bacterial lipids is inconsistent with a nearly constant D/H fractionation during lipid biosynthesis, and likely reflects significant variations associated with metabolism