Title: Digital preservation policies: A guide to their creation and management
1Digital preservation policies A guide to their
creation and management
Alan Howell Preservation Solutions
Australia www.preservationsolutionsaustralia.com.a
u
2Overview
- Background to digital preservation policy
- Model digital preservation policy elements
- Summary
- Microsoft PowerPoint presentation on website
http//www.preservationsolutionsaustralia.com.au - Full paper in publication Preserving digital
information Challenges and solutions
http//nla.gov.au/nla.arc-49633 soon!
3Background to digital preservation policy
- Definitions
- Policy framework
- Drivers for digital preservation policy
development - Benefits of having a digital preservation policy
- Provisos
- Key resources
4Digital preservation policy where are we at?
- ?
- How many people in the audience have a business
need to keep digital resources for five years or
more? - Keep your hand up if you have a digital
preservation policy? - Remember your answer
5Definitions
- Digital preservation
- Preservation policy statement
- Preservation policy
- Preservation strategy
- Preservation procedure
6Digital preservation simple
- the processes involved in maintaining
information and other kinds of heritage that
exist in a digital form. (Webb, 2003 p.20)
7Digital preservation expanded
- All that needs to be done
- including technical, organisational, financial
and cultural considerations - to increase the likelihood
- that the intellectual content
- and/or the evidential status
- of significant digital resources
- remains usable
- and unaltered - or altered within acceptable and
documented limits - (various authors)
8Preservation policy statement
- A declaration by an entity (organisation, state,
country, etc) about its role/purpose, beliefs and
its commitment to pursue certain aims. A
statement of management intent. - Examples
- The National Library of Australia will
endeavour to preserve in original or surrogate
format all materials for which it accepts
responsibility under the DNC. (NLA, 2001?) - The National Archives of New Zealands main
concern is to ensure the survival of permanently
valuable material and thereby preserve the
corporate memory of government. (NANZ, 1997) - one of the worlds best in collecting,
conserving and communicating information.
(SLNSW, 1990)
9Preservation policy
- An authorised, formal, statement that sets out
(among other things) what is - and as importantly
- what is not to be preserved within an entity,
for how long, the priorities and accountabilities - Forms an integral part of the overall policy of
an entity. Takes account of an entitys raison
dêtre, philosophy, risk profile, users needs
and its context within state, national and -
sometimes - international frameworks - Provides clear, high-level, long-term direction
(over 5, 10 or more years) - Demonstrates benefits
- Practicable, achievable and adaptable
- Regularly reviewed to remain relevant
10Preservation strategy
- The plan that sets out
- the technical, organisational and cultural
methods and techniques to be used to preserve (or
attempt to preserve) specific categories/classes
or types of digital objects throughout their
life-cycle
11Preservation procedure
- The detailed guidelines for operational
activities to implement the strategy
12Policy framework
Authority
Collection Policy
Preservation Policy
Digital Preservation Policy
Strategy
Procedures
Plans
13Policy and risk framework
Authority
Collection Policy
Preservation Policy
Digital Preservation Policy
Strategy
Procedures
Plans
14Drivers for digital preservation policy
development
- Compliance (legislation, due diligence)
- Staking out the territory
- Business need
- Stakeholders expectations (now and in the
future) - Shareholder value
- RQF
- Digitising programs
- Internal effectiveness, efficiency and
accountability - Bringing coherence to the structural and
technical heterogenity of the different types of
digital materials (Erpanet, 2003 p.4)
15Benefits of having a digital preservation policy
(Erpanet, 2003 p.4)
- Developing digital preservation strategy
- Planning coherent digital preservation programs
- Ensuring and reinforcing accountability
- Demonstrating funds can and will be used
responsibly and consistently - Ensuring digital materials are available for
current and future use - Defining significant properties that need to be
preserved for particular types of resources - Assisting agencies develop digitising programs
- Providing a comprehensive statement on digital
preservation - Providing security measures that ensure the
protection of digital materials during use
16Provisos
- Very few digital preservation policies to draw on
- Mostly in first iteration
- Mostly from cultural heritage sector - libraries
in particular - Other sectors and institutions have developed
excellent policy on digital preservation but
either not published as Policyor spread across
number of documents (eg National Archives of
Australia) - My aim is a core set of common policy themes
but recognise that organisational context and
existence of other policy documents will drive
the scope of specific policies - Some institutions will want more, other
institutions less detail - A model policy will not suit everyone its a
thought starter
17Key resources
- National Library of Australia 2001, Digital
preservation policy, http//nla.gov.au/nla.arc-360
99 - ERPANET 2003, Digital preservation policy tool,
http//www.erpanet.org/guidance/docs/ERPANETPolicy
Tool.pdf - State Library of Victoria 2006, Digital
preservation policy, http//www.slv.vic.gov.au/abo
ut/information/policies/digitalpreservation.html - DCC and DPC Joint Workshop?Policies for
long-term curation and preservation, University
of Oxford,?3 - 4 July 2006, http//www.dcc.ac.uk/e
vents/policy-2006/
18Model digital preservation policy areas
- Document identification
- Entity, Title, Date, Unique identifier, Name and
role of creator, Status - Document history
- Previous versions, Change history
- Authorities for the policy
- Entity function and powers, Executive body
authorising the policy - Related documents
- All related policies and plans required to
interpret the policy - Purpose of the policy
- Audience, rationale, intended impact
19- Benefits of the policy
- technical, organisational, financial, cultural
benefits of the policy - Scope of the policy
- Inclusions Digital objects to be preserved and
the rationale - Exclusions Digital objects not addressed by the
policy and rationale - Priorities for digital preservation
- The digital objects that will be given preference
and why - Timeframes for digital preservation
- In the life-cycle of objects, when will the
preservation decision be taken - Which objects are intended for short, medium,
permanent preservation - Policy statements
- Statements on intent, beliefs, rights,
conventions, standards (eg OAIS, RLG Trusted
Digital Repositories checklist, PREMIS etc)
20- Definitions
- Definitions of terms used in the policy but not
in general usage - Roles and responsibilities
- Which role(s) is responsible for
implementing/monitoring the policy - Digital object creation
- Technical spec (resolution, bit-depth, data
format, metadata, etc) - Digital object management (DOM)
- Including carrier for incoming materials,
preferred data formats for long-term
preservation, reformatting rules, DOM
metadata, disposal rules, packaging and
documentation, obsolete formats, hardware/op.
systems and documentation, contextural resources,
authenticity regime, outsourcing rules
21- Digital object storage
- Rules for physical digital object storage, how
and what digital objects will be stored online,
nearline and offline - Disaster preparedness
- What disasters are envisaged - how does the
entity aim to mitigate them - Control of digital preservation
- What control, monitoring and auditing will be
undertaken - Security planning
- Levels of security - how does the entity aim to
achieve them - Technology watch
- How will the entity get and stay informed on the
obsolescence of data formats
22- Resourcing digital preservation
- The entitys position on the human, financial,
physical and material resources required for
digital preservation - Agreements
- Under what circumstances will the entity into
agreements with others for the long-term
preservation of digital objects - Research and advice
- Will the entity undertake research / provide
advice to others - Cooperation
- The entitys position on cooperation and
collaboration - Review
- How will the entity review the policy, frequency
and role(s)
23Summary
- All organisations that create, manage or collect
digital information or objects need a digital
preservation policy - A public statement that sets out the philosophy
of an organisation concerning digital
preservation. - As a minimum, a digital preservation policy
defines the types of digital objects that will
and will not be preserved, for how long, the
principal methods to be used, the priorities, the
risks to be managed, how progress will be
measured and who will be responsible for these
preservation activities. - A digital preservation policy includes not only
technological specifications but also
organisational, financial and cultural aspects
impacting on the life cycle of digital objects. - Developing a digital preservation policy brings
multiple benefits - Ultimately ensuring digital materials are
available for current and future use
24Digital preservation policy where are we going?
- ?
- Again, raise your hand up if you have a digital
preservation policy? - Do any of the rest of the audience want to join
us?
25Digital preservation policies A guide to their
creation and management
Alan Howell Preservation Solutions
Australia www.preservationsolutionsaustralia.com.a
u