Digital PreservationProcess or Outcome?

orWhat Hath NLNZ Wrought?

Joseph Shubitowski (jshubitowski@getty.edu)IGeLU 2008, September 9, 2008

First........A Word of Thanks!

• NLNZ are driving force for preservation– Evangelism works!

• Made vendors take notice– Hardware and software

• Sustainability is key

IGeLU Conference 2008, September 9, 2008

• “Over the past few weeks I have become acutely aware that the term “digital preservation” may be becoming a problem........in the digital domain, we should be selling the outcomes. While we have to use "digital preservation" in appropriate contexts, including technical and other in-house discussions, and digital curation is appropriate in other contexts, terms that reflect the outcomes are more persuasive. So I would argue that outcome-related phrases like "long term accessibility" or "usability over time" are better than the process-oriented phrase "digital preservation".

Chris Rusbridge, Digital Curation Blog, July 29, 2008

IGeLU Conference 2008, September 9, 2008

Assumptions & Perceptions

• Constituencies already depend on library for analog conservation & preservation

• Do user communities even perceive a digital preservation crisis?

• Usability is key no matter if analog or digital

• Keep stuff accessible– Users/public don’t care about the details

IGeLU Conference 2008, September 9, 2008

Sustainability (Big Picture)

• Policies are everything– Assessment and preservation strategies

and workflows are all based on policy– Technical solutions complement policy –

not shape it

• Mandates– Participation in digital preservation

programs/workflows cannot be optional

IGeLU Conference 2008, September 9, 2008

Sustainability (Technology)

• Internal– Will you continue to have the funding,

staff, and technical resources?

• Community based and/or OSS– What will you or your intended solution

depend on the community to produce and support?

• Vendor supplied/supported– Will my vendor be around to complete

and support what we started together?

IGeLU Conference 2008, September 9, 2008

Dependencies

• National and international standards and collaborations– Policies: OAIS, NDIIPP, PLANETS – Metadata: PREMIS, METS – Registries: GDFR, PRONOM

• Tools and plug-ins– JHOVE, DROID, NLNZ Indigo, MET, & Web

Curator, AONS• Hardware

– Disk, tape, content addressable storage, grid solutions

• Budget!

IGeLU Conference 2008, September 9, 2008

Interoperability

• Internal platforms– Who makes it all work together?

• Community/constituencies– How will standards, tools, registries, etc.

continue to develop and converge/diverge?

• Trustedness?– Testing and certification – who decides?

• Interchangeability of preservation objects?– How will systems and/or institutions agree on

authenticity of digital objects

IGeLU Conference 2008, September 9, 2008

Assurance

• How do we know we’re on the right track? – Policy and repository assessment

• NARA/OCLC/CRL: TRAC:CC• JISC/DCC: DRAMBORA

– National/international programs• EU: DPE, DPC, PLANETS, CASPAR, nestor• USA: NDIIPP, NARA Directives• New Zealand: NDHA• Australia: PADI

– Community forums/idea sharing• JISC, DPE, DPC, Library of Congress, NISO, etc.

etc. sponsored conferences and forums• iPRES conferences• PASIG and other vendor sponsored groups• Groups like ELUNA and IGeLU

IGeLU Conference 2008, September 9, 2008

Just my thoughts.......

Thanks......

• jshubitowski@getty.edu

IGeLU Conference 2008, September 9, 2008