Investing in value: a perspective on digital preservation

No abstract available

Digital Preservation as an Albatross

‘Digital Preservation’ as a concept is an albatross. The complex and somewhat arcane nature of the practice has kept it from being embraced by those that perhaps need it most. Changes in terminology, misunderstandings of meanings and a lack of direct business planning have brought about a state of affairs that has the digital preservation community fighting the problem of technological obsolescence without sustained support from organisations that supposedly need it most. Organisations care about ensuring their continued existence and profitability. Investment is only undertaken after reflection on business cases. In creating a business case most people focus primarily on cost, but there must be a counter-veiling focus on value. There is no point in making an investment unless it has worth to the investor. A good business case will display a strong understanding of the value of information objects that organisations create. Information professionals must ensure that their desire to ensure longevity of information is tied coherently and explicitly to that of the organisation’s future and detail why the digital materials are of value to it. Exploring value in this way allows engagement with senior management as it wraps the need for action in the terminology of their strategic vision and allows for a strong and successful business case to be made

The world is all grown digital.... How shall a man persuade management what to do in such times?

Understanding and communicating the cost and value of digital curation activities has now been recognised by a number of projects and initiatives as a very important factor in ensuring the longterm survival of digital assets. A number of projects have developed costing models for digital preservation but there remains a major problem with information assets (digital or otherwise) in that their value is difficult to express in terms that are readily understood by all the stakeholders, especially those who might fund their preservation. This paper introduces a range of issues concerning information value and business models for sustained funding of digital preservation, with particular reference to the espida Project recently completed at the University of Glasgow. This project has developed a model of information value that builds on the Balanced Scorecard approach to business performance developed by Kaplan and Norton. This model casts information curation as an investment where current and ongoing expenditure is incurred in order to produce future returns, benefiting a range of stakeholders. In this formulation, value is seen as multifaceted and, from the point of view of the individual or organisation funding the curation, explicitly related to the funder’s strategic goals. It also recognises that benefits may only accrue over the long term and that there is a risk that information that is preserved may fail to deliver any return. Examples discussed in the paper concern the establishment of an institutional repository and the establishment of an e-thesis service for an educational institution. It concludes that a deconstruction of benefits of this kind can be more quickly and fully understood even by stakeholders not necessarily expert in the curation field. This facilitates the production of a well-constructed case that clearly articulates information value and the benefit that accrues from its curation, which in turn allows senior management or other funders to make funding decisions based on understandable information: the basic premise of good practice in management. This is a commonly understood idea and one that the espida methodology helps fulfil

Electrohydrodynamic flow in a barbed plate electrostatic precipitator

1988 Summer.Includes bibliographical references (pages 138-140).Covers not scanned.Print version deaccessioned 2020.The large scale secondary flows and turbulence induced by the inhomogeneous negative corona discharge in the conventional wire-plate precipitator are known to reduce collection efficiencies, particularly in applications with high mass loadings of fine particulates. Electrohydrodynamic theory suggests that a modification in electrode geometry is necessary to control the electrically induced flow. A plate-plate precipitator using a barbed plate discharge electrode is designed to provide a more uniform current density distribution. Electrical and fluid dynamic characteristics of four model barbed plate electrodes, with varying plate-to-plate and barb spacing, are evaluated and compared to characteristics of a laboratory wire-plate precipitator in a specially designed wind tunnel facility. Current voltage characteristics of each electrode are presented and the visual appearance of the corona discharge discussed. Hot-film anemometer measurements of the turbulent flow field downstream of the active precipitator include mean and turbulence intensity profiles, as well as spectral analysis of the flow. Gas eddy diffusivities are estimated from integral length scale calculations. A laser light sheet is used to visualize the flow in the inter-electrode space. Results show that the electrical characteristics of the planar electrodes are well within the range needed for industrial precipitation and that the scale of the current in homogeneities within the precipitator are reduced. Fluid dynamic measurements confirm that electrode geometry has a significant effect on the electrohydrodynamic turbulence production. Turbulence intensity data indicate that the point discharges in the planar geometry cause higher turbulence levels than the wire discharges. Turbulent diffusivites are correspondingly higher in the planar geometry. These results indicate that mixing may actually be enhanced in the suggested design. Flow field measurements made downstream of the precipitator may not however be representative of the electrically induced flow within the precipitator. Plate end effects observed in the visualization procedure may have a significant effect on the downstream flow and bias the measurements. Additional study is necessary to determine if the planar geometry is a viable design. The most important test of any new precipitation design is measurement of its particle collection efficiency

Deterrence Gap: Avoiding War in the Taiwan Strait

The likelihood China will attack Taiwan in the next decade is high and will continue to be so, unless Taipei and Washington take urgent steps to restore deterrence across the Taiwan Strait. This monograph introduces the concept of interlocking deterrents, explains why deterrents lose their potency with the passage of time, and provides concrete recommendations for how Taiwan, the United States, and other regional powers can develop multiple, interlocking deterrents that will ensure Taiwanese security in the short and longer terms. By joining deterrence theory with an empirical analysis of Taiwanese, Chinese, and US policies, the monograph provides US military and policy practitioners new insights into ways to deter the People’s Republic of China from invading Taiwan without relying exclusively on the threat of great-power war.https://press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/1960/thumbnail.jp

Broken Nest: Deterring China from Invading Taiwan

Deterring a Chinese invasion of Taiwan without recklessly threatening a great-power war is both possible and necessary through a tailored deterrence package that goes beyond either fighting over Taiwan or abandoning it. This article joins cutting-edge understandings of deterrence with empirical evidence of Chinese strategic thinking and culture to build such a strategy

espida Process

Embedded in the work of espida is a process that ensures projects align themselves with the strategic aims of the funders they wish to receive resources from. It details the relationship the funder and fundee have and how outcomes of the work feedback into the organisational objectives

Predicting Malawian women’s intention to adhere to antiretroviral therapy

Background. With the increase in scaling up of antiretroviral therapy (ART), knowledge of the need for adherence to ART is pivotal for successful treatment outcomes. Design and Methods. A cross-sectional study was carried out between October and December 2013. We administered theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and adherence questionnaires to 358 women aged 18-49 years, from a rural and urban ART-clinics in southern Malawi. Hierarchical linear regression models were used to predict intentions to adhere to ART. Results. Regression models showed that attitude (β=0.47), subjective norm (β=0.31), and perceived behavioral control (β=0.12) explain 55% of the variance in intentions to adhere to ART. The relationship between both food insecurity and perceived side effects with intentions to adhere to ART is mediated by attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioural control. Household (r=0.20) and individual (r=0.21) food insecurity were positively and significantly correlated with perceived behavioural control. Household food insecurity had a negative correlation with perceived side effects (r=-0.11). Perceived side effects were positively correlated with attitude (r=0.25). There was no statistically significant relationship between intentions to adhere to ART in the future and one month self-report of past month adherence. These interactions suggest that attitude predicted adherence only when food insecurity is high or perception of side effects is strong.Conclusions. This study shows that modification might be needed when using TPB constructs in resource constraint environment