Engaging repository policy with preservation

Steve Hitchcock and Neil Jefferies*

Preserv 2 ProjectSchool of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS),

Southampton University

*Oxford University Library Services

JISC Repositories & Preservation Programme Meeting, Bristol, 27-28 November 2007

Pre-meeting evaluation survey

• Benefit 4b - More repository administrators are preparing for the preservation of content in their repository– Is there evidence that more repositories are preparing for

preservation?

• Benefit 7a - The relevant people are aware of what they need to contribute towards preservation and the technologies exist to help them– Have users engaged with the preservation projects?

• Benefit 7b - The programme should produce the beginnings of a repository network that can support preservation– Has this network been created?

Q. How do we engage repositories with preservation?

A. Planning

Preservation can be a scary topic (technical, long timescales) but preservation planning need not be.

Planning begins with policy, in this case repository policy

About this sessionPreservation planning: connecting with policy

• Show how preservation planning can emerge from everyday repository considerations

• Encourage you to engage with preservation planning • Consider the organisational context rather than the

technical considerations

Repository policy Reasons for a repository policy:• Purpose: to explain why you have a repository: high-

level vision • Clarity: to help understanding by stakeholders, clarify

responsibilities • To help with planning and the decision-making • To build support

This and the following slides are adapted from a presentation on

Policies for Institutional Repositories, by Bill Hubbard, Jackie Knowles and Steve Hitchcock, presented at the RSP Summer School, Dartington, June 2007 http://www.rsp.ac.uk/events/SummerSchool2007/

Types of policy

• Strategic Policies – align with the wider strategic policies of the institution,

including scope (which materials – papers, teaching materials, theses, data) and mandates

• Operational Policies– e.g. submission, content, use policies

OpenDOAR policies tool

• OpenDOAR has created a ‘simple’ tool to help repository administrators to formulate and/or present their repository's policies. It provides a series of check boxes and pick lists for all the key policy options.

http://www.opendoar.org/tools/en/policies.php

OpenDOAR policy types

• Metadata policy for information describing items in the repository Policy (access and reuse of metadata)

• Data policy for full-text and other full data items (access and reuse of full data)

• Content policy for types of document and data set held (repository type, types of material, papers, etc.)

• Submission policy concerning depositors, quality and copyright (who can deposit, what they can or must deposit

• Preservation policy

OpenDOAR preservation policy

• Retention Period• Functional Preservation through continued readability

and accessibility (e.g. file format migration), and what the repository is doing to assure this

• File Preservation (backup, bitstream, microfilm)

• Withdrawal Policy rules for removing content from the repository

• Withdrawn Items what happens to such items• Version Control• Closure Policy in the event of the repository being closed

down

Preservation: what’s next

Two key preservation standards • Open Archival Information System (OAIS)• Preservation Metadata Information Strategies (PREMIS)

A platform for preservation • Preservation services

Preservation actions

• Storage media• Media refreshing• Reformatting• Backups and disaster

recovery• Environment• Audit

• Security• Preservation strategy• Migration• Emulation• Technology preservation• Records management,

etc.

From the JISC standards guidelines

Open Archival Information System (OAIS) reference model

Preservation servicesPreserv 2 signature schematic

Cornell tutorial on OAIS: preservation planning

• “Preservation Planning is perhaps the core OAIS function.”

• “Determining which preservation strategies will be developed and when and in what circumstance the strategies will be implemented is the essence of digital preservation.”

From the Cornell tutorial on Digital Preservation Management http://www.library.cornell.edu/iris/tutorial/dpm/foundation/oais/preservation.html

Cornell tutorial on organisational input to preservation planning

• “Preservation Planning is another OAIS function where organizational concerns lead.”

• “final decision-making responsibility rests on the organizational side.”

• “Preservation planning demonstrates more clearly than other functions that digital preservation is a shared responsibility, both within and between institutions.”

Applying the OAIS organisational view: the repository in the institution

• Is it an institutional repository, or a simply repository in an institution?

• Did the institution initiate the repository?• Does the institution back the repository?• What does the institution expect the repository to do?

e.g. what is the target content?• Does the institution impose any policies?• Does the repository have an institutional mandate?• Does the institution finance the repository?

The answers to all of these questions will influence preservation planning

Let's move on to preservation metadata

• Metadata designed for managing digital content over a long period of time is commonly referred to as 'preservation metadata', and typically informs, describes and records a range of activities concerned with preserving specific digital objects

• The authoritative reference on preservation metadata is PREMIS: Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies Data Dictionary (2005)

PREMIS framed: questions that may be familiar in a repository context

• Metadata quality: How is new material deposited in your repository: by author self-archiving; mediated deposit by an agent on behalf of the author (e.g. a personal assistant) or by repository staff?

• Does the repository use IDs generated by the repository software, or does it have its own system of IDs?

• Does the repository allow submission of files in the following forms: compressed, encrypted, zipped?

• Does the repository have any explicit agreement with authors that refers to rights for preservation?

Engaging with preservation metadata: questions for repositories about policy

• Does the repository have any existing policy on preservation?

• Submission and file formatsa Does the repository have a policy on submission file formats? b Are there any restrictions for submitting authors?c Does the repository transform submitted formats in any way?d Does the repository require the original source version from the author?

Recommendations on preservation planning for new repositories

• Don’t worry about preservation action • Instead think about preservation planning. We have tried

to show how this can emerge from organisational issues and everyday repository considerations

• Preservation planning is founded on all aspects of repository management, starting with institutional policy

• Don't initiate preservation policy until you have considered institutional and other policy issues e.g. raised by the policies tool (not just preservation policy tool)

• Watch out for preservation services from JISC projects– Preserv project http://preserv.eprints.org/– Sherpa DP project http://www.sherpadp.org.uk/index.html

Pre-meeting evaluation survey (recap)

• Benefit 4b - More repository administrators are preparing for the preservation of content in their repository– Is there evidence that more repositories are preparing for

preservation?

• Benefit 7a - The relevant people are aware of what they need to contribute towards preservation and the technologies exist to help them– Have users engaged with the preservation projects?

• Benefit 7b - The programme should produce the beginnings of a repository network that can support preservation– Has this network been created?