The Future of File Format Identification: PRONOM and DROID User Consultation

The National Archives, Kew, London, 28/11/2011

The National Archives is proposing to launch a new phase of development of its DROID tool, and is seeking to engage with various user groups and stakeholders from the digital preservation community, government and the wider archives sector communities to help inform and discuss potential developments and user needs. As part of this process, The National Archives, in conjunction with the Digital Preservation Coalition, invites interested parties to attend a one day workshop, hosted at Kew, to discuss their experiences of using DROID and PRONOM in their respective disciplines, discuss how the tools fit their use case, and describe both positive and negative experiences of the tools and their interaction with The National Archives.

There will be a mixture of invited talks and extensive open discussions; the invited talks may focus on experiences, ideas to augment or improve either service, and may encompass wider ideas and thoughts on file identification in general. The day will commence with a short introduction by Tim Gollins, Head of Digital Preservation at The National Archives, who will set out the case for PRONOM and DROID at The National Archives, and describe the business requirements which have helped shape and drive the tools development to this point. Throughout the day, via twitter and less technology dependent mechanisms, we will seek to gather a list of hot topics and discussion points from the community, which will then be used as the basis for an end of day discussion which will help inform the development of the next iteration of DROID, set to commence in 2012. The result of the day will provide The National Archives with content to begin a broader open consultation between December and January which will see active participants in the DROID community submit requirements for the tool and vote on and discuss existing requirements. The National Archives will use this whole process to help prioritise community requests, alongside its own internal requirements, when work on DROID 7.0 begins.

Provisional Programme:

9.30 - 10.00 Coffee

10.00 - 10.10 Welcome and Housekeeping - Outline of the day

10:10 - 10.30 Tim Gollins: Introduction and brief history of PRONOM and DROID

10:30 - 10:50 Ross Spencer: Linked Data PRONOM

10:50 - 11:05 Coffee

11:05 – 11:25 – Details to be confirmed

11:25 – 11:45 - Dr David Tarrant (University of Southampton) - UHT Digital Preservation: Increasing the Shelf Life of our Data, Services and Tools

11:45 – 12:05 - Bill Roberts (Open Planets Foundation (OPF), The Nationaal Archief (National Archives of the Netherlands)) – ‘Towards a format registry ecosystem’

12:30 - 1:30 Lunch (provided)

1:30 – 1:35 – Introduction for afternoon attendees

1:35 – 1:45 – Tim Callister: DROID demonstration

1:35 – 2:05 - Kate Pritchard, Mike Kaye (DEFRA – Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) - ‘DEFRA experiences using DROID and using an IT provider’

2:05 – 2:25 - Jenny Mitcham (Archaeology Data Service) - ‘Using DROID to create file level metadata – a case study from the Archaeology Data Service’

2:25 – 2:45 - Johan van der Knijff (SCAPE Project / Koninklijke Bibliotheek, National Library of the Netherlands) – ‘Evaluation of format identification tools’

3:00 - 4:00 - Open Discussion - requirements gathering exercises - breakout sessions

4:00 - 4.30 - Wrapping up, bring it all together, where we go from here.

How to register

Places are free for DPC members and associates including personal members.

Non-members are asked to contribute 10 pounds per person for the cost of lunches which will be provided. Places are limited and will fill quickly, so early registration is recommended. The DPC does not issue invoices for event booking and cannot process card payments. For this event our preferred methods of payment are: CHEQUE to the 'Digital Preservation Coalition'. Please post to DPC, Innovation Centre, Science Park, Heslington, York YO10 5DG; or CASH on the day - please email written confirmation to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it that you wish to pay on the day.

THIS EVENT IS FULL AND REGISTRATION IS CLOSED

How to find The National Archives

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/tna-map-local-area.pdf

Can't make it?

We're keen to hear from everyone.  If you can't make you can follow the event using the hastag #dpc_droidcon. Or if you want to make specific comments about your requirements then please use the hashtag #droid7  We'll also be publishing a short report from the workshop in due course and providing a short number of talking head interviews and videos.

Help shape the agenda

We really are keen to hear from everyone!  You can use the comments box below to indicate key issues you'd like to address at the meeting.