Digital Here Now, Maybe Forever? Collecting and Collaborations

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Digital Here Now, Maybe Forever? Collecting and
Collaborations

• Robert P. Spindler
• New England Archivists Fall Meeting
• Storrs, Connecticut
• October 12, 2007

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Archivists and Collaboration

• Why cant we go it alone?
• Creators and digital obsolescence
• Lack of professionally managed infrastructure
• Need for specialized technology expertise
• Need for authority/executive champion(s)

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Archivists and Collaboration

• The Plan (for the next 40 mins. or so)
• Collaboration with creators
• What should we say to them?
• What motivates them?
• Quick university case studies
• Enterprise systems
• Learning management systems
• Electronic theses and dissertations
• Lessons Learned

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Archivists and Creators

• What should we discuss with them?
• Articulate the digital preservation challenge
• Identify sustainable formats run with pack!
• Discuss production workflow
• Documentation of ownership (collaborations)
• Transfer to archival system/reliable
  infrastructure

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Archivists and Collaboration

• Creators are motivated by different things
• Enterprise system content owners are
  business/transaction driven
• Faculty are interested in tenure and time
• Students are motivated by program requirements
• How can we speak to their needs?

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Case Study Enterprise Student Information System
(2006-07)

• New SIS to be implemented in 18 months
• Student transcripts are vital records
• Archivist comments to CIOs Wiki
• Registrar is supportive but not committed
• PESC XML Standard http//www.pesc.org/info/approve
  d/xml-post-transcript.asp
• Meeting with project co-leaders

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Case Study Enterprise Student Information System
(2007)
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Case Study Learning Management Systems (2003)

• General Counsel called committee with reps from
• Faculty
• University IT
• University Archives

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Case Study Learning Management Systems (2003)

• Counsel interested in rights management, privacy
  and public records compliance
• University IT interested in deleting obsolete
  files and avoiding migration costs
• University Archives interested in preserving
  sample courses for pedagogy and history
• Faculty wants to keep everything

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Case Study Learning Management Systems (2003)

• Group identified course components and content
  lifespan through a flow chart
• Taxonomy of course components drafted with
  proposed retention periods for each

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Case Study Learning Management Systems (2003)

• Group disbanded in Spring 2004
• Faculty could not see the justification for
  deletion of anything

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Case Study ASU Electronic Theses and
Dissertations Working Group (2001)

• 22 faculty, librarians, IT staff, Graduate
  College administrators, one archivist.
• Proposed
• PDF requirement and optional multimedia
• Student self-submission process
• Multimedia format standards
• Funding for IT and Graduate College staff

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Case Study ASU Electronic Theses and
Dissertations Working Group (2001)

• Technology staff (University and Library)
• Builds submission interface
• Maintains storage environment
• Researches migration paths and tests migrations
• Librarians review and enhance author-provided
  metadata
• Archivists evaluate preservation and
  recordkeeping requirements

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Case Study ASU Electronic Theses and
Dissertations Working Group (2001)

• Standards committee receives format standards
  proposals from students via GC advisors
• Center for Learning and Teaching Excellence to
  provide student training
• University was unable or unwilling to support the
  true costs

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Conclusion Lesson Learned

• All of these initiatives failed!
• We have a responsibility to keep trying
• Be strategic pick your spots
• Executive champions are the key
• Provosts
• Counsel
• Auditors
• CIOs and Library Deans

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Thanks!Digital Here Now, Maybe Forever?
Collecting and Collaborations

• Robert P. Spindler
• New England Archivists Fall Meeting
• Storrs, Connecticut
• October 12, 2007