Audit and Certification of Digital Repositories: Creating a Mandate for the Digital Curation Centre (DCC)

The article examines the issues surrounding the audit and certification of digital repositories in light of the work that the RLG/NARA Task Force did to draw up guidelines and the need for these guidelines to be validated.

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.

Prognostic model to predict postoperative acute kidney injury in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery based on a national prospective observational cohort study.

Background: Acute illness, existing co-morbidities and surgical stress response can all contribute to postoperative acute kidney injury (AKI) in patients undergoing major gastrointestinal surgery. The aim of this study was prospectively to develop a pragmatic prognostic model to stratify patients according to risk of developing AKI after major gastrointestinal surgery. Methods: This prospective multicentre cohort study included consecutive adults undergoing elective or emergency gastrointestinal resection, liver resection or stoma reversal in 2-week blocks over a continuous 3-month period. The primary outcome was the rate of AKI within 7 days of surgery. Bootstrap stability was used to select clinically plausible risk factors into the model. Internal model validation was carried out by bootstrap validation. Results: A total of 4544 patients were included across 173 centres in the UK and Ireland. The overall rate of AKI was 14·2 per cent (646 of 4544) and the 30-day mortality rate was 1·8 per cent (84 of 4544). Stage 1 AKI was significantly associated with 30-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio 7·61, 95 per cent c.i. 4·49 to 12·90; P < 0·001), with increasing odds of death with each AKI stage. Six variables were selected for inclusion in the prognostic model: age, sex, ASA grade, preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate, planned open surgery and preoperative use of either an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor or an angiotensin receptor blocker. Internal validation demonstrated good model discrimination (c-statistic 0·65). Discussion: Following major gastrointestinal surgery, AKI occurred in one in seven patients. This preoperative prognostic model identified patients at high risk of postoperative AKI. Validation in an independent data set is required to ensure generalizability

Open Source for Digital Curation

This Curation Manual instalment discusses at some lengths the relevant strengths of open source software from a digital curation perspective, as well as detailing some of its more general advantages, which must be understood in order to accept the viability of an institutional or cultural shift to open software products. Through a series of sections it describes a range of explicit digital curation application areas for open source, some examples of existing uses of open source software, a selection of open source applications of possible interest to the digital curator, and some quantitative statistics illustrating the value of open source software.

An Introduction to the Digital Curation Centre

Overview of the UK Digital Curation Centre, detailing its structure, goals and the range of deliverables identified as vital to its success.

Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment (DRAMBORA)

This is the first iteration of the DCC/DPE Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment (DRAMBORA) and will be followed by revised versions during 2007 and 2008 following each of the formal testing phases of the toolkit and public comment on it. The construction of this toolkit is a dynamic process and this is the second stage in this process. The DRAMBORA toolkit represents the latest development in an ongoing international effort to conceive criteria, means and methodologies for audit and certification of digital repositories. The intention throughout its development has been to build upon, extend and complement existing efforts. A key requirement has been to establish a toolkit that contributes towards a single process for repository assessment. The importance of international cooperation and collaboration, and the potential dangers associated with divergence were acknowledged very early on within the DCC and DPE's work in this area. Perhaps the most notable efforts to date within this context are those invested within the RLG/NARA Task Force and the nestor working group to develop criteria for audit and certification of trustworthy digital repositories. Further significant work was led by the Center for Research Libraries (CRL). The results of these efforts have been foremost within our considerations throughout the development of this toolkit, and in the DCC-led pilot audits that preceded it. The DCC/DPE working group has engaged with representatives of other groups to agree upon a set of principles, representing the fundamental, objective baseline criteria for preservation repositories and these, and their underlying concepts, are profoundly important within the toolkit. It is anticipated that self audit based on DRAMBORA can be facilitated if undertaken in association with one or both of the check-lists, and vice versa.. The risk-based approach assists efforts to match a repository against these lists of requirements. Only with a clear view of an organisation's business context and its implicit risks can an auditor effectively utilise these requirements. The toolkit contextualises these lists so they can be more effectively applied. In addition to these resources, we have also sought to incorporate and adapt ideas and concepts from an additional, diverse range of sources, including a wide range of international information standards, many with their basis in the risk management industry, aiming to broaden ever further the perspectives that our international colleagues have already established.