Collaboration for Success in Digital Records Management

1
Collaboration for Success in Digital Records
Management Curation

• Maureen Pennock
• UK Digital Curation Centre, UKOLN, University of
  Bath

2
Overview

• Transition from analogue to digital
• Challenges in managing digital records
• Digital Curation the life-cycle
• Roles and Responsibilities
• Conclusions

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From Analogue to Digital

• Digital infrastructure now increasingly common
• Number of advantages in using digital records
• Range and type of records enormous
• Management and preservation of digital records
  has not kept pace with use

from this
to this
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The First Solution
5
The First Solution
?
?
Doesnt solve all the problems
?
and may even create extra ones!
?
?
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Digital Curation

• Offers a framework in which to address many of
  the technical, cultural, and organisational
  issues in the management and preservation of
  digital records data
• Maintaining and adding value to a trusted body
  of digital information for current and future
  use
• The active management and appraisal of data
  over the entire life-cycle

7
Life-cycle model
Disposal?

• Generic model
• Takes control over the records throughout
  lifetime
• Meaningful chain of custody
• Requires compatibility of different stages
• Note that preservation activities may be needed
  before archiving, depending on the retention
  period

Records
Disposal?
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The Challenges

• New paradigm -gt different challenges

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Technical Preservation issues (1)

• Preservation
• Records highly environmentally dependent
• Software/hardware environments change many times
  during the lifetime of the records
• Records may be altered if action is undertaken
• Records will become inaccessible if action is not
  taken

File(s)
Software
RECORD
Hardware
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Technical Preservation issues (2)

• Preservation strategies
• Fragility of media
• File deterioration
• Media obsolescence
• Hardware software obsolescence
• Preservation tools/functionality
• Repository storage
• Metadata
• Security

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Organisational and Cultural issues

• Organisational and cultural infrastructure not
  geared towards digital records management
• Records often created, stored, managed ad hoc
• Distributed across many PCs, laptops, other
  devices
• Multiple copies made problematic versioning
• Sense of personal ownership
• Need for senior managerial support, e.g policy,
  champions
• The thats not part of my job description
  syndrome
• Low awareness of staff/user responsibilities
• Absence of effective communication pathways
  between stakeholders departments

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Legal and Financial issues

• Financial
• Who will pay?
• What are the cost benefits?
• Wheres the business model?
• Legal
• Data Protection,
• Freedom of Information,
• Controlling IP rights

13
Addressing the challenges

• These challenges are present at different stages
  throughout the records life-cycle
• Necessitates a distinct change in the way the
  universities manage their digital materials and
  digital records isolated departments and
  faculties no more
• Requires attention by different stakeholders at
  different stages

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Shared roles and responsibilities

• Management senior and departmental
• Records creators staff, students
• Records curators information and records
  management, archivists, librarians
• IT personnel web managers, head of IT, system
  administrators, system support
• Communication and collaboration is required to
  achieve consistency and success

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Stage 1 - Creation
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Stage 2 Active Use
17
Stage 3 Appraisal Selection
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Stage 4 Transfer or Disposal
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Stage 5 Archiving Preservation
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Stage 6 - Access Re-use

• Many previous activities, e.g. metadata
  creation, linkage between records, contribute to
  re-use

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Summary Conclusions

• Digital records management comprises many levels
  of challenges (not just technical)
• Print to paper is not the most appropriate
  solution for managing digital records
• More extensive collaborative relationships are
  needed for complete life-cycle management than
  has traditionally been the case
• Collaboration enables organisations to fully reap
  benefits of digital records
• Wider cross-sectoral collaboration
  communication will minimise investments in
  developing suitable approaches

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Thank YouQuestions?
Maureen Pennockm.pennock_at_dcc.ac.ukJoin the DCC
Associates Network at http//www.dcc.ac.uk (its
free!)