Collaborative Preservation of ETDs:The MetaArchive Cooperative and LOCKSS

Gail McMillanDigital Library and Archives, Virginia Tech

1st Canadian ETD & OR Workshop, May 11, 2010

I met a traveller from an antique landWho said:—Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. Near them on the sand,Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frownAnd wrinkled lip and sneer of cold commandTell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.And on the pedestal these words appear:"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains: round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,The lone and level sands stretch far away. 1818 P.B. Shelley

Digital PreservationSystematic management of digital works over an indefinite period of time Processes and activities that ensure the

continued access to works in digital formats Requires ongoing attention--constant input of

resources: effort, time, money

Backups ≠ Digital Preservation

Backups are tactical measuresMake copies to restore originals after data loss event. Typically stored in a single location • Often nearby• Collocated with the servers backed up

Backups address short-term data loss with minimal investment resources

Digital Preservation is Strategic

Long-term, error-free storage and for the entire time span the information is required.Realistically address issues in preserving information over time

Ongoing investmentGeographically dispersed set of secure caches Multi-institutional collaboration

DDPN: Distributed Digital Preservation Network

Distributed Digital Preservation NetworkSecure

PLN: Private LOCKSS NetworkReduces the likelihood that any single cache will be compromised

Distributed GeographicallyReduces likelihood that loss of any single cache will lead to loss of the preserved information.A single organization is unlikely to have the capability to operate several geographically dispersed and securely maintained servers.Inter-institutional agreements will ensure commitment to act in concert over time.

http://www.ndltd.org

http://www.metaarchive.org

MetaArchive CooperativeDDPN: 2004 –

Separate preservation from accessLOCKSS w/out public accessBit-level

Sustained by membership fees, grantsLibrary of Congress (NDIIPP) awards, 2003-Nonprofit corporation: charter, membership agreement, tech specsA cooperative, not a vendorTraining and model for others

LOCKSSTraditional

Public networkHostCoordinatesTechnical supportWeb interface to audit preservation status

MetaArchive (PLN)

TrainingCoordinationTechnical supportWeb interfaces to audit preservation statusDocumentationConspectus

NDLTD/MetaArchive AllianceETD Preservation Survey

Dec. 2007-April 200895 institutions responded80% have ETDs27% have a preservation plan92% interested in DDPN

NDLTD Preservation Strategy: MetaArchive

PreliminariesJoin, training, installation

Collection readinessPermission, manageable units, define path

Harvest/ingest/cacheContinual comparisons, repairs

Dark archive: distributed preservation

MetaArchive Cooperative16 members: US, UK, Brazil150 collectionsMetadata: collection levelImages, text files, multimedia files, datasets, program executables

MetaArchive Membership LevelsPreservation Member Sites

Fundamental activity: network node serverPreserve their own and others ETDs

Sustaining Member SitesFundamental activity: preservation nodeSteering Committee, leadership, and technical development

Staff Roles at Member Institutions

Program ManagersData WranglersSystems AdministratorsLibrarians/Archivists

MetaArchive Ingest Process

Plugin: scripts describing rules and structure of archival units of collections to be preservedLocal staff write these install them in the networkAt least 6 dispersed nodes in a DDPN ingest the archival units: Caching

NDLTD Preservation Guidelineshttp://scholar.lib.vt.edu/theses/NDLD/NDLTDPreservationPlan200906.pdf

Hardware, softwareMetadata: Conspectus Database of CollectionsOrganizing ETD collections—best practices and data wranglingInstitutional WorkflowPersonnelTraining OpportunitiesDocumentation and ReportsRetrieving from the ETD Archive

MetaArchive and ETD Preservation

Recovery: plan for it; don’t put off for another daySeparate issues: access and preservationCollaboration: everybody works and everybody benefits