DPC has published its informal notes from the 2nd LIBER International Workshop on Digital Preservation, held in Florence from the 7th to the 8th of May 2012.  Notes are are linked from the DPC members area of the website at: http://www.dpconline.org/members/conference-reports (login required).

The DPC is offering two scholarships so that members can send staff to the Digital Preservation Training Programme in London 28th-30th May. The deadline for applications is 1200 on Friday 11th May.  For more details see: http://www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/744-dptpscholarshipsmay2012

Vacancy at the British Library: Senior Software Engineer in Digital Preservation

Location: Boston Spa, Yorkshire
Salary: £27,477 - £31,912 per annum
Fixed Term until 31st March 2015
Closing date 16th May

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a developer to help drive the British Library’s groundbreaking work to preserve and archive the world’s knowledge in new digital formats. You will ensure our internationally renowned collection survives through time and remains accessible for future researchers.

You will be part of a research and development team that collaborates widely with libraries, archives, and commercial organisations across Europe to develop innovative digital stewardship solutions. You will have excellent Java development skills and experience in rapid prototyping with scripting languages such as Python and Bash. Strong team-working skills and an enthusiasm to work in a collaborative project environment will be essential. Knowledge and experience of any of Open Source software development, agile methodology, and Test Driven development would be an advantage.

For more details and an application form, visit

https://gs10.globalsuccessor.com/fe/tpl_britishlibrary01.asp?s=CenPmSXuHfWInKkWfc&jobid=88080,4886772334&key=68306157&c=344723878798&pagestamp=sebjltulqdyrabmpau

For informal enquiries please contact Maureen Pennock, Digital Preservation Manager on 01937 546302

The DPC, Richard Wright and Charles Beagrie Ltd are delighted to announce the release of the latest DPC Technology Watch Report ‘Preserving Moving Pictures and Sound’, written by Richard Wright, formerly of the BBC.

‘Moving image and sound content is at great risk’, explained Richard Wright.  ‘Surveys have shown that 74 per cent of professional collections are small: 5,000 hours or less. Such collections have a huge challenge if their holdings are to be preserved. About 85 per cent of sound and moving image content is still analogue, and in 2005 almost 100 per cent was still on shelves rather than being in files on mass storage. Surveys have also shown that in universities there is a major problem of material that is scattered, unidentified, undocumented and not under any form of preservation plan. These collection surveys are from Europe and North America because there is no survey of the situation in the UK, in itself a cause for concern.’

‘This report is for anyone with responsibility for collections of sound or moving image content and an interest in preservation of that content.’ 

‘New content is born digital, analogue audio and video need digitization to survive and film requires digitization for access. Consequently, digital preservation will be relevant over time to all these areas. The report concentrates on digitization, encoding, file formats and wrappers, use of compression, obsolescence and what to do about the particular digital preservation problems of sound and moving images.’

The report discusses issues of moving digital content from carriers (such as CD and DVD, digital videotape, DAT and minidisc) into files. This digital to digital ‘ripping’ of content is an area of digital preservation unique to the audio-visual world, and has unsolved problems of control of errors in the ripping and transfer process. It goes on to consider digital preservation of the content within the files that result from digitization or ripping, and the files that are born digital. While much of this preservation has problems and solutions in common with other content, there is a specific problem of preserving the quality of the digitized signal that is again unique to audio-visual content. Managing quality through cycles of ‘lossy’ encoding, decoding and reformatting is one major digital preservation challenge for audio-visual as are issues of managing embedded metadata.

DPC members have already had a preview.  Pip Laurenson of Tate commented ‘This is  a terrific report. Thank you so much for commissioning it - it is the best thing I have read on the subject.’ 

The report has also been subject to extensive review prior before publication.  Oya Rieger and colleagues at Cornell University who reviewed the final draft welcomed the report: ‘It is a very thorough report. We realize that it was a challenging process to gather and organize all this information and present it in a succinct narrative. Another virtue of the report is that it incorporates both analog and digital media issues. The final section with conclusions and recommendation is very strong and provides an excellent summary.'  

Another reviewer explained why the preview for DPC-members was so timely: ‘We are currently working on a grant proposal focusing on new media art and having access to the preserving moving pictures and sound report was very useful. The report provides a thorough characterization of the current practices, shortcomings, and challenges. Having access to the report has saved us from spending expensive time on conducting a literature review. ‘

DPC Technology Watch Reports identify, delineate, monitor and address topics that have major bearing on ensuring our collected digital memory will be available tomorrow.  They provide an advanced introduction in order to support those charged with ensuring a robust digital memory and they are of general interest to a wide and international audience with interests in computing, information management, collections management and technology.  The reports are commissioned after consultation with members; they are written by experts; and they are thoroughly scrutinised by peers before being released.  The reports are informed, current, concise and balanced and they lower the barriers to participation in digital preservation. The reports are a distinctive and lasting contribution to the dissemination of good practice in digital preservation.

‘Preserving Moving Pictures and Sound’ is the second Technology Watch Report to be published by the DPC in association with Charles Beagrie Ltd. Neil Beagrie, Director of Consultancy at Charles Beagrie Ltd, was commissioned to act as principal investigator and managing editor of the series in 2011.  The managing editor has been further supported by an Editorial Board drawn from DPC members and peer reviewers who have commented on the text prior to release.  The Editorial Board comprises William Kilbride (Chair), Neil Beagrie (Series Editor), Janet Delve (University of Portsmouth), Sarah Higgins (Archives and records Association), Tim Keefe (Trinity College Dublin), Andrew McHugh (University of Glasgow) and Dave Thompson (Wellcome Library).

The report is online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.7207/twr12-01 (PDF 915KB)

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DPC started a new Strategic Plan for 2012-2015, which was adopted by the members at the AGM in December 2011.  The Board Meeting in March included a discussion of the Forward Work Plan for 2012-2015 which spells out key dates and actions over the same period.  This internal document has been published on the website for members so they can see what is being planned for the near future.  This is now online at http://www.dpconline.org/about/programme-of-works  (You need a username and password required.)

Outline of report on 'Preservation Trust and Continuing Access to E-Journals' now available

The DPC and Neil Beagrie (of Charles Beagrie Ltd) are delighted to publish the outline for a new Technology Watch Report on 'Preservation, Trust and Continuing Access to E-Journals'.  This report, which will become the ninth in the popular series,will provide a guide to current developments, practical and emerging issues which organisations are facing in the area of preservation, trust and continuing access for e-journals and in addition generic lessons on issues of outsourcing and trust learnt in this field of interest to a wider community.  The report has been supported by a member briedifing day held in January and is due for completion in July 2012.

• The outline is available for DPC members to consult at: http://www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/750-twroutlineejournalsapr2012 [pdf 47KB login required] 
• Notes from the DPC members;' briefing day are also available for members at: http://www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/746-ejtrust310112consolidatedreport [pdf 403KB, login required]

The DPC is delighted to invite members to our annual planning day, in York on the 17th / 18th May 2012.  The Planning Day is an informal but informative opportunity for all of the Coalition, as well as our partners overseas, to contribute to the direction of the Coalition. This year the planning day has the theme of 'Assurance and Practice'. 

Please register online at: http://www.dpconline.org/events/details/45-planning-day-2012?xref=47

• Full members (ie board directors and their guests are invited to meet at 1800 on the evening of 17th May 2012 at the Grange Hotel (1 Clifton, York YO30 6AA) where dinner, bed and breakfast will be provided.  Please register but follow up by email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to confirm accommodation requirements.
• Associates and 'Allied Orgsanisations' are invited to nominate one representative each, assembling at Bedern Hall (Bartle Garth, York YO1 7AL) at 1030.  (register using the link above)
• Personal members are invited also to assemble Bedern Hall (Bartle Garth, York YO1 7AL) at 1030.  (register using the link above)

Lunch and refreshments will be provided and the meeting will close by 1530. Please register by 11th May 2012.

In 2011, the Planning Day made a specific recommendation that the DPC should look to develop methods for capacity enhancement and repository improvement based on mutually supportive peer-review.  This could provide an independent but low-maintenance form of validation for staff who may work in isolation, and who would be sceptical or un-prepared for formal processes of certification.  This proposal was further examined by a small working party in September 2011 which discussed the benefits and risks that could accrue. The group proposed that mutually supportive relationships between members were a necessary pre-cursor to peer review, and that not all members would welcome, were ready or would benefit from peer-review.  Emerging standards of certification were noted but it was not clear whether they presented a desirable outcome or impact for members, and that even if they did it was noted that the standards were neither sufficiently mature nor was there sufficient capacity or desire to creat a certification service in digital preservation yet.  However, it was argued, a form of peer-support could go one to form the basis of peer-review and would be useful preparation to certification in due course should members seek this. 

These aspirations for the DPC to provide help in 'assurance and practice' were incorporated as a strategic objective in the DPC Strategic Plan 2012-15, without specifying the mechanisms or processes that would deliver them.  Therefore, the purpose of this planning day is to bring the whole DPC together to review and agree a set of proposals on how best to provide assurance - and on-going improvement - in digital preservation practice for members.

We are pleased to announce that registration is now open to attend our next expert briefing day on the topic of ‘Digital Preservation and Digital Resilience’ in London on the 21^st May is now available: http://www.dpconline.org/events/details/44-resilience?xref=46

Resilience is an increasingly important topic in the provision of digital services. Digital technology offers the prospect of ‘24/7’ services, a model which can only be sustained through constant monitoring and planning to ensure continuity of service. Increasing demands on the networks, increasing concerns about security, and increasing economic and social consequences from their failure, makes resilience a pressing concern. Business continuity planning continually refines and extends these protections to ensure that the right services are supplied to the right people at the right time.

Digital preservation is part of resilience planning and shares a core set of concepts and practices with business continuity management. Both work towards robust data provision through processes of risk assessment, disaster planning, security-testing and on-going monitoring; both use replication and redundancy to mitigate or prevent data loss; and both require a detailed understanding of what information is where and who is allowed to access it. But because digital preservation and digital resilience are designed to combat different types of threat, there is a risk that they are not aligned as effectively – or as efficiently – as they could be. How might a digital preservation plan contribute to organisational resilience? How might business continuity management contribute to a long term information strategy?

This DPC briefing day will provide a forum for members to review and debate the latest development in business continuity management and how it aligns with digital preservation. Based on commentary and case studies from leaders in the field, participants will be presented with emerging policies, tools and technologies and will be encouraged to propose and debate new directions for research.

The day will include discussion of key topics such as:

• Intelligent enterprise risk management
• Disaster planning and disaster recovery
• Digital continuity
• Business processes and preservation

 Who should come?

This day will be of interest to:

• Collections managers, curators and archivists in all institutions
• Data security and resilience planners
• Tools developers and policy makers in digital preservation and resilience planning
• Innovators, researchers and investors in information policy and management
• Innovators, researchers and funders in computing science
• Vendors and providers of digital preservation and continuity of business services

Registration is free for DPC members who have access to priority registration online at:

http://www.dpconline.org/events/details/44-resilience?xref=46

Vacancy: Director of Curation Services, ICPSR (Univerity of Michigan)

The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) seeks to appoint a Director of Curation Services to maintain and develop a comprehensive approach to data management and digital preservation. The holder of this position will lead a team with responsibility for policy implementation and planning across the data lifecycle, including metadata standards, repository management, digital preservation, and compliance with standards (such as Trusted Repositories Audit & Certification). The selected individual will report directly to the Director of ICPSR and will be a member of the ICPSR senior leadership. He or she will represent the organization to ICPSR's extensive network of partners in both the social science and the digital archiving communities.

The individual selected for this position will hold a research faculty appointment in ICPSR and the Institute of Social Research and will be based at the University of Michigan. The position may be in the Archivist (Assistant, Associate or Full), Research Scientist (Associate or Full) or Research Professor (Associate or Full) tracks, depending upon qualifications. Joint appointment with other University of Michigan units is possible.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and develop ICPSR's comprehensive digital preservation policy framework

• Plan collaboratively with others to oversee the continuous evaluation of the digital repository, including all policies, standards, and workflows

• Identify the necessary descriptive, technical, structural, and preservation metadata for ICPSR's diverse digital content

• Evaluate and maintain quality control of metadata operations

• Research other metadata standards to determine their relevance for ICPSR

• Participate in the Data Documentation Initiative Alliance and in development of the DDI standard

• Advise on methods for handling new types of digital content

• Manage ICPSR's institutional records in collaboration with others

• Promote the role of the organization within the digital preservation and data archive communities through a program of presentations, papers, and articles at conferences and meetings, and in journals representing key domains

• Participate in the development of standards and good practice for the digital archiving community at national and international levels

• Participate in training on lifecycle data management

• Prepare proposals and applications for external funding to support both research into digital archiving and practical activities designed to enhance ICPSR's repository

• Conduct and publish in the candidate's area of expertise

Closing date 5th May.  For more details including how to apply see: http://umjobs.org/job_detail/67168/director_of_curation_services

Digital Resilience and Digital Preservation London 21st May: Registration Opens for Members

We are pleased to announce that online registration for members to attend our next expert briefing day on the topic of ‘Digital Preservation and Digital Resilience’ in London on the 21^st May is now available: http://www.dpconline.org/events/details/44-resilience?xref=46

Resilience is an increasingly important topic in the provision of digital services. Digital technology offers the prospect of ‘24/7’ services, a model which can only be sustained through constant monitoring and planning to ensure continuity of service. Increasing demands on the networks, increasing concerns about security, and increasing economic and social consequences from their failure, makes resilience a pressing concern. Business continuity planning continually refines and extends these protections to ensure that the right services are supplied to the right people at the right time.

Digital preservation is part of resilience planning and shares a core set of concepts and practices with business continuity management. Both work towards robust data provision through processes of risk assessment, disaster planning, security-testing and on-going monitoring; both use replication and redundancy to mitigate or prevent data loss; and both require a detailed understanding of what information is where and who is allowed to access it. But because digital preservation and digital resilience are designed to combat different types of threat, there is a risk that they are not aligned as effectively – or as efficiently – as they could be. How might a digital preservation plan contribute to organisational resilience? How might business continuity management contribute to a long term information strategy?

This DPC briefing day will provide a forum for members to review and debate the latest development in business continuity management and how it aligns with digital preservation. Based on commentary and case studies from leaders in the field, participants will be presented with emerging policies, tools and technologies and will be encouraged to propose and debate new directions for research.

The day will include discussion of key topics such as:

• Intelligent enterprise risk management
• Disaster planning and disaster recovery
• Digital continuity
• Business processes and preservation

 Who should come?

This day will be of interest to:

• Collections managers, curators and archivists in all institutions
• Data security and resilience planners
• Tools developers and policy makers in digital preservation and resilience planning
• Innovators, researchers and investors in information policy and management
• Innovators, researchers and funders in computing science
• Vendors and providers of digital preservation and continuity of business services

Registration is free for DPC members who have access to priority registration online at:

http://www.dpconline.org/events/details/44-resilience?xref=46