Auditing and Certification of Digital Repositories: Best Practices and Next Steps

1
Auditing and Certification of Digital
Repositories Best Practices and Next Steps

• Robin L. Dale
• 1 March 2007
• IMLS WebWise 2007
• Washington, DC

2
Outline

• Understanding Repositories Assessing Risk
• Why Audit or Certify Digital Repositories
  Archives?
  
• Creating Metrics to Plan and/or Evaluate
  Repositories Archives
  
• Identifying and Using Existing Metrics Best
  Practices
  
• Next Steps for Digital Repository Assessment and
  Certification
  

3
Understanding Assessing Riska semantically
confusing scene

• Digital repositories
• Digital archives
• Data archives
• Institutional repositories
• Digital object management systems
• Digital asset management systems
• Digital preservation/archiving systems

• de facto network of varying development,
  capabilities, content, context, services, data
  longevity, vulnerabilities, horizons/sunsets

4
Why Audit or Certify Digital Repositories
Archives?

• Trust, verify, and clarify an iterative
  process
  
• Institutional commitment, intent for collections,
  objects
  
• Infrastructure demands
• Technical system and staffing capabilities
• Sustainability (funding, technology,
  collaboration)
  
• And if all else fails? Fail-safe partners?
• Identify and communicate context
• Identify and communicate risks to content
• Future planning
• Identify best practices
• Map best practices against current system
• Identify gaps in practice, procedure,
  functionality
  
• Map best practices against local
  capabilities/goals
  
• Identify opportunities for future expansion and
  needs associated with them

5
Creating Metrics to Plan and/or Evaluate
Repositories Archives

• TDR as a system, not just technical bits
• Organizational infrastructure
• Digital object management
• Technical infrastructure
• Repositories will differ, but good practice and
  reliable technical infrastructure are universal
  
• Metrics as planning tool, sized to meet local
  goals
  
• Context is KING!
• Identify areas where you may want/need to be
  different
  
• Audit as objective evaluation
• risk assessment
• evidence of capabilities
• basis for trust for implicit/explicit
  collaboration
  
• Transparency, risks, degree of stewardship
• i.e., policies, procedures, content,
  vulnerabilities
  

6
Identifying and Using Existing Metrics Best
Practices

• Get on TRAC! Trusted Repositories Audit
  Certification Criteria and Checklist (OCLC and
  CRL, Feb 2007)
  
• Combines earlier RLG-NARA Digital Repository
  Certification Task Force work with Center for
  Research Libraries Auditing and Certification of
  Digital Archives project
• Addresses Organizational infrastructure, Digital
  object management, Technical infrastructure and
  security
  
• Catalogue of Criteria for Trusted Digital
  Repositories (nestor Working Group)
  
• Digital Curation Centre (UK) and
  DigitalPreservationEurope (EU) Risk-Based Self
  Assessment Toolkit
  
• CRL-nestor-DCC Ten Principles core requirements
  for digital preservation repositories

7
Next Steps for Digital Repository Assessment and
Certification

• Audit and certification activities in US move to
  Center for Research Libraries (CRL)
  
• Build upon core set and identify additional
  requirements for specialized repositories
  
• Work with NEDCC to identify core guidelines
  applicable to mid-sized repositories
  
• DCC and DPE developing risk-based self assessment
  toolkit
  
• Facilitate internal audits/assessments to measure
  success of efforts
  
• nestor developing training tools
• ISO standards group beginning official ISO
  standards process
  
• utilizing TRAC and leveraging nestor Criteria
  Catalogue

8
References

• CRL-nestor-DCC Ten Principles core requirements
  for digital preservation repositories (Jan 2007)
  
  
• Digital Curation Centre (UK) and
  DigitalPreservationEurope (EU) Risk-Based Self
  Assessment Toolkit
  
• nestor Working Group on Trusted Repositories
  Certification. June 2006. Catalogue of Criteria
  for Trusted Digital Repositories. Version 1
  (draft for public comment). English translation
  December 2006.
• en/8en/PDF/8en.pdf
  
• Trusted Repositories Audit Certification
  Criteria and Checklist (OCLC and CRL, Feb 2007)