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Title: Selection and appraisal for scientific


1
Selection and appraisal for scientific
scholarly repositories
  • Ross Harvey
  • Practices and Challenges in Preservation and
    Access for Scientific and Scholarly Digital
    Repositories
  • DCC/DPE/DRIVER/Nestor Joint Workshop, 27-28
    November 2007, Berlin

2
Outline
  • Introduction
  • Definitions
  • The appraisal process
  • Appraising digital objects
  • Is appraisal dead?
  • If we dont appraise
  • Reasons for appraising
  • Some issues from practice
  • Different institutional contexts, different
    approaches
  • Examples epidemiological data sets, social
    science data
  • Appraisal tools
  • Automating appraisal
  • Summary

3
Introduction
  • Focus the importance of selection and appraisal
    for long-term curation of content in scientific
    and scholarly digital repositories
  • Key themes
  • Why appraise?
  • What is different about appraising digital
    objects?
  • Tools to assist appraisal
  • Automating appraisal
  • Increasing interest in appraisal
  • Little mention in 2005 DCC workshop on long-term
    curation within digital repositories
    (http//www.dcc.ac.uk/events/dr-2005/)
  • DELOS conference devoted to appraisal, 15-16
    November 2007 (http//www.dpc.delos.info/rethinkin
    g_appraisal/)

4
Definitions
  • Appraisal the process of evaluating records to
    determine which are to be retained as archives,
    which are to be kept for specified periods and
    which are to be destroyed (Ellis 1993, p.461)
  • JISC Records appraisal is the process of
    determining the archival value and ultimate
    disposition of records. Appraisal decisions are
    based on a number of criteria including the
    historical, legal, administrative, and financial
    value of the records. Identifying permanently
    valuable records through appraisal is one of the
    basic aims of records management. The management
    and appraisal of electronic records therefore
    contributes to digital preservation.
  • Selection the process of deciding what will be
    added to a librarys collection

5
The appraisal process
  • Appraisal is an evil necessity (Terry Eastwood)
  • Selection involves bias acknowledge it
  • Criteria applied
  • Policy does the institution have a selection
    policy? Does the material fit into it?
  • Legal and intellectual property issues have, and
    can, acceptable rights be negotiated?
  • Technical issues can the file format be handled,
    currently and in future? Is transfer to a more
    manageable format possible?
  • The existence of documentation, ancillary data
    and metadata is there sufficient data?

6
Appraising digital objects
  • Different appraisal approaches are needed for
    different kinds of digital materials discussion
    about appraisal has assumed one size fits all
  • Appraisal of digital objects is different
    emphasises
  • Metadata (documentation that explains the
    character of the data)
  • Analysis of the technical feasibility of
    preservation (e.g. file formats, viability of
    maintaining/preserving them)
  • Analysis of the economic feasibility of
    preservation (can we afford to do it?)
  • Appraisal happens earlier in the life-cycle
  • Print (pre-digital) paradigm Benign neglect,
    appraisal traditionally carried out well after
    the records have been created
  • Digital paradigm digital materials need
    attention from the time they are created
    (digital mortgage)

7
Is appraisal dead?
  • With our increasing ability to store digital
    information and access it, is appraisal
    necessary?
  • Appraisal is costly
  • Even if we have the technical ability to store
    and preserve everything, we probably dont want
    to
  • It is worth examining the idea of 'selection' in
    the context of large amounts of digital material
    being available. Indeed, it needs scrutiny. Do we
    think for a second as the world information grows
    exponentially - and the number of curators does
    not - that we're capable of selecting even the
    thinnest cream of the crop? There is clearly a
    challenge here - as more material is either born
    digital, or digitised, does the pre-selection
    model still apply, or is post-selection going to
    become the norm? If the latter, what does it mean
    for repositories? (posting on ngc4lib list)

8
If we dont appraise
  • What are the consequences of not doing some
    appraisal, of not making some selection?
  • Balance material's 'worth' against the likely
    success/cost of long-term preservation and
    provision of access
  • Likelihood, cost of economical long-term
    viability
  • Can we afford to maintain large quantities? (NB
    costs of digital preservation still unclear)
  • Post-selection approach shifts costs elsewhere
    eg digital archaeology approaches and untried
    solutions
  • Despite reducing storage costs and increasing
    processing power, information retrieval
    capabilities are not sufficiently developed to
    ensure retrieval

9
Reason for appraising
  • Good management
  • The quality of long-term management is directly
    related to the quantities managed
  • It is as important to determine what we want to
    exclude from our collections as it is to decide
    what to include
  • Trust
  • Repositories should contain objects that are
    trusted by researchers
  • Cost issues cant carry out routines,
    verification etc required to ensure trust on very
    large quantities
  • Resource issues
  • Long-term funding for repositories not (yet)
    guaranteed
  • Resource limitations (e.g. funding, skills)
    maintaining smaller quantities helps manage
    resource limitations

10
Some issues from practice (PARADIGM Project)
  • Multiple copies of the same document stored by
    different people
  • Which copy is the master when similar documents
    appear on the computers of three or four members
    of staff? Should we retain the version held by
    the more senior member of staff?
  • System files present in acquisitions of digital
    records
  • The archivist will also want to identify and
    remove operating system, application and other
    software files
  • Processing required prior to appraising digital
    records
  • Records accessioned on older media and/or in
    older formats will need to be extracted in order
    to undertake an assessment of their content,
    context, structure and technical viability. May
    add significant costs to the processing of
    archives before appraisal even begins
  • Establishing the authenticity of creation dates
  • Some applications automatically generate dates -
    whenever the document is viewed the current date
    will be given
  • Establishing the authenticity of authorship
  • How accurate is the 'author' metadata associated
    with a file? e.g. where staff routinely share
    computers

11
Different institutional contexts, different
approaches
  • Different contexts require different appraisal
    approaches
  • Science datasets if we created it, it is worth
    keeping - emphasis is placed on re-use capacity
  • Legal requirements to keep everything published
    in specified regions (e.g. national libraries)
  • Reasons
  • Accountability different domains have different
    requirements
  • Discipline-specific requirements and practices
  • Who pays? Who uses the results? What do they
    insist on? (Designated Community?)
  • Data privacy relevant to some contexts, but not
    all
  • Scientific data
  • Growing interdisciplinary approaches to
    scientific data
  • Large curated scientific databases a case for
    less appraisal

12
Example epidemiological data sets
  • Possible retention criteria
  • The nature of the questions being asked by the
    study
  • Whether it addresses only one question or many
  • Whether the question has been asked before
  • The richness of the data set
  • If it is a longitudinal study indicates an
    amber light
  • Sample-related studies
  • Stability of the measures used
  • Possibility to go back to the population (e.g.
    for consent, ethical committee access)
  • Uniqueness value for possible future comparisons
    (Lord Macdonald JISC E-science Curation Report
    2003, p.46)

13
Example social science data
  • Data Preservation Alliance for the Social
    Sciences (DataPASS) appraisal guidelines
  • Key questions addressed are
  • How significant are the data for research?
  • How significant is the source and scientific
    progress and society?
  • Is the information unique?
  • How usable are the data?
  • What is the timeframe covered by the information?
  • Are the data related to other data in the
    archives?
  • What are the cost considerations for long-term
    maintenance of the data?
  • What is the volume of data?
  • http//www.icpsr.umich.edu/DATAPASS/pdf/appraisal
    .pdf

14
Appraisal tools
  • Very few appraisal tools exist
  • U.S. Geological Survey Records Appraisal Tool
    http//igskmncngs030.cr.usgs.gov/RAT/tool.php
    This tool assists the USGS in appraising record
    collections that are offered to, or sought by,
    the USGS.
  • We should be expending our resources on the data
    we most value. Determining that value requires us
    to make judgments, but utilizing a repeatable and
    comprehensive scheme can allow us to judge data
    responsibly. Documenting those judgments is
    essential, because future generations will depend
    on the current scientists and records managers to
    preserve the data that will advance knowledge
    (J. Faundeen, USGS)
  • PARADIGM Project notes the use of Directory Tools
    (e.g.DirPrinting) to assist appraisal

15
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16
Automating appraisal
  • Development work proceeds, but no workable tools
    yet
  • ECHO Project (http//www.ndiipp.uiuc.edu/)
  • PLANETS (http//www.planets-project.eu/)
  • PRESERV (http//preserv.eprints.org/
  • Appraisal in the Digital World conference 15-16
    Nov 2007 (http//www.dpc.delos.info/rethinking_app
    raisal/)

17
Summary
  • Appraisal is necessary for good management of a
    TDR
  • Appraisal needs redefinition in the digital
    environment
  • e.g. it has to take much more account of
    technical characteristics, of disciplinary
    differences
  • More work is required to develop and test
    different models of appraisal that take better
    account of domain differences, technical issues,
    cost-benefit consequences and issues

18
Further reading
  • DELOS Appraisal Conference papers (when
    available) http//www.dpc.delos.info/rethinking_a
    ppraisal/
  • ERPANET/CODATA Workshop (2003) The selection,
    appraisal and retention of digital scientific
    data final report, ERPANET/CODATA Workshop,
    Biblioteca Nacional, Lisbon, December 15-17,
    2003. http//www.erpanet.org/events/2003/lisbon/Li
    sbonReportFinal.pdf
  • Ross Harvey (June 2006), Appraisal and
    Selection, DCC Digital Curation Manual, S. Ross,
    M. Day (eds), http//www.dcc.ac.uk/resource/curati
    on-manual/chapters/appraisal-and-selection
  • PARADIGM Project
  • http//www.paradigm.ac.uk/

19
Speaker contact information
  • Ross Harvey
  • Visiting Professor, HATII, University of Glasgow
  • Professor, School of Information Studies,
    Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia
  • Email rossharvey_at_csu.edu.au
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