A future with no history meets a history with no future: how much do we need to know about digital preservation

www.dpconline.orgour digital memory accessible tomorrow

A future with no history meets a history with no future: perspectives on how much we should know about digital preservation

@[email protected]


What does Digital Preservation sound like?

How much do students need to know?

Why that matters?

What is to be done?

• (3 ways of being)

• (2 big ideas thanks to DigiCurV)

• (4 scenarios)

• (curricula)


Digital Preservation Makes Bleak Reading?


The Newham ArchiveCyber-boffins to the rescue!


<Enter your details here>………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Digital preservation typically makes bleak reading 2

Raises awareness but doesn’t really solve the problem


… or …


Digital preservation orDigital continuity orDigital legacy or Permanent access orDigital curation orIntelligent continuity orCyber lifecycle orLong term data retention or

Whatever term you wish to coin this week

Thinking of clever words and arguing over their meanings is easier than finding solutions



… or …



How hard can it be?

Daunting challengeDecade of research and developmentReplete with jargon and acronymsTurf war between professions?Disconnected from practice?A whole new barrier?

The solutions are in here, but how does one make sense of it all?


and…


Challenge growing on (at least) three axes

ScaleComplexity Importance


How can we frame a curriculum around this?

Two observations from (substantiated by) DigCurv:•Flexibility•Breadth


‘What I wish I knew before I started’


DigCurV Focus Groups and APARSEN

• Improve communication between technical and non-technical staff through shared vocabulary.

• Raise awareness of digital across organizations.• Better integrate physical and digital collections.• Ensure staff possessed domain knowledge and curation skills.• Develop methodologies for keeping on top of rapidly changing technologies.• Provide non-technical staff with a basic understanding of IT concepts.• Develop mechanisms for informed decisions about standards and systems.• Maximize access and understand users.• Make informed decisions about selecting digital collections.• Embed process in the normal workflows of the organization.• Better understand the legal issues surrounding digital curation


And if you really push them they say ...

Train staff to be flexible


Breadth ... DigCurv Curriculum Framework

Mapped to actual rolesClear but flexed to local needs Extensive but not doctrinaireFrom experience not assumption


Strong recognition of Business planning andBusiness improvement

Projects and services


Strong knowledge of principles and practice

Engaged with users

Manages ‘up and across’


Strong knowledge of regulation and legalities

Implicitly strong knowledge of use case


Responsive to changeIntegrity – works up and down


Train staff to be flexible

Why this is the correct approach in four thought experimentsabout digital preservationand how it ischanging


Digital objects

Project

Infrastructure and technological innovation

Pilot

Plan

Fund

Propose

Scope

Invite

Fiel

dwor

k

Qua

lity

assu

re

mer

ge

Proc

essi

ng

Del

iver

y

hand

over

Obs

oles

cenc

e

Rel

ease

Val

ue

Begin

PRESERVATION-READY OBJECTS?

Digital Preservation in 10 years time 1: the preservation ready objects


Digital Preservation in 10 years time 1: the preservation ready objects

Deal with the route causes of obsolescence via:•File formats•Documentation•E-Discovery


Digital Preservation in 10 years time 2: Preservation As A Service

Trusted repository an obsolete concept (metaphor)•Staff and skills•Organisation•Succession planning•Micro-services•The ‘internet of things’

www.dpconline.org

Product LifecycleManagement

Concrete TIMBUS Example

CAD/CAMSystem

Machine ToolManufacturer

Supply ChainManagement Material

SupplierMaterial Manufacturer


Finding dependenciesVarying performancesVirtualisation / emulation of preservation tools Micro-services

Digital Preservation in 10 years time 2: Preservation As A Service


Digital Preservation in 10 years time 3: All Digital Preservation as Web Archiving

• 3Es: everything, everywhere, electronic

• Open linked data• Legal deposit• WARC standard• Policy and institutions• Commercial services• Producer / Archive hand-off


Digital Preservation in 10 years time 4: Virtualisation for preservation

• Preservation on demand• Ubiquitous tools and services• Virtual platforms for

computing• Virtualisation manager• Invisible preservation



So … what makes a curriculum

Responsive to technology

Responsive to emerging research

Based on actual needs

Adapted to role and environment

Values not technology


So … what makes a SUCCESSFUL curriculum

What will digital preservation be like in a decade?Tell me that and I will describe the curriculum in detail…

‘In times of change learners inherit the earth; while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.’ Eric Hoffer via Patricia Sleeman


A future with no history meets a history with no future: perspectives on how much we should know about digital preservation

@[email protected]

Education

A future with no history meets a history with no future: how much do we need to know about digital preservation