ePADD, University of Stanford
ePADD is free and open source software developed by Stanford University Libraries and partners that supports the appraisal, processing, preservation, discovery, and delivery of email archives of potential historical or cultural value. Over the past five years, ePADD has pioneered the application of machine learning and natural language processing to confront challenges that collection donors, archivists, and researchers routinely face in donating, administering, preserving, or accessing email collections. This includes screening email for confidential, restricted, or legally-protected information, preparing email for preservation, and making the resulting files (which incorporates preservation actions taken by the repository) discoverable and accessible to researchers.
veraPDF, veraPDF Consortium
veraPDF is an open source conformance checker that validates all current parts and levels of ISO 19005 (PDF/A). It is accompanied by a comprehensive, atomic test corpus, covering each clause in the PDF/A specifications to test the software. veraPDF was funded by the EU PREFORMA project to empower memory institutions to gain control over the technical properties of their preservation files. veraPDF bridges a gap between memory institutions and industry with specialist expertise to create a product that meets the needs of both communities. Since funding ended in 2017, the Open Preservation Foundation sustains veraPDF as an independent open source project.
Contributions towards Defining the Discipline, Dr. Sarah Higgins - Aberystwyth University
This PhD by Published Works defines and evaluates the original contributions to the disciplinary development of digital curation made by the author over ten years. It presents ten published papers (three of which are co-authored) and a narrative explaining the professional and academic contexts in which the papers were authored, and the impact they have made. Progressive contributions to both the professional and academic development of the discipline are described through: an historical analysis of its origins, analysis of the conceptual space it inhabits, theoretical modelling of this conceptual space to enable practical implementations, and the development of higher education curricula.
Flashback: Preservation of legacy digital collections, British Library
The British Library’s digital collection dates back to the 1970s. Many of the early acquisitions were deposited and stored on original handheld media such as 5.25” or 3.5” floppy disk, or CD, often as part of a hybrid book/disk publication, or wholly on disk. Many of these early items are now institutionally obsolete. The ‘Flashback’ project developed a process to rescue this content from the shelves so that it could be accessed by modern readers, combining cutting edge tools and workflows with unique research in a Proof of Concept project to explore and define an end-to-end, scalable digital preservation solution.
