DPC

Glasgow Museums and the DPC, with the assistance of the JISC are delighted to announce the release of a new addition to the Digital Preservation Case Notes series.  In this case note, Glasgow Museums shows that the benefits of digital preservation can be expressed in terms of new opportunities they create in the short and long term.  Even relatively simple steps can bring early rewards if properly embedded within the mission of an organization.

PARSE.Insight was a two-year project co-funded by the European Union under the Seventh Framework Programme. It was concerned with the preservation of digital information in science, from primary data through analysis to the final publications resulting from the research. The problem is how to safeguard this valuable digital material over time, to ensure that it is accessible, usable and understandable in future. The rapid pace of change in information technology threatens media, file formats and software with obsolescence, and changing concepts and terminology also mean that, even if data can be read, it might not be correctly interpreted by future generations.Many initiatives are already under way in this area, and the aim of the PARSE.Insight project is to develop a roadmap and recommendations for developing the e-infrastructure in order to maintain the long-term accessibility and usability of scientific digital information in Europe. The project conducted a number of surveys and in-depth case studies of different scientific disciplines and stakeholders and based its results on these findings, as well as knowledge of ongoing developments.PARSE.Insight is closely linked to the Alliance for Permanent Access to the Records of Science. The output from this project is taken forward in the APARSEN Network of Excellence. Results are also delivered to the European Commission to support them in defining a strategy for developing a sustainable research infrastructure.

Many APA members were also involved in the PARSE.Insight project.

• APA Website: http://www.alliancepermanentaccess.org/
• Project Website: http://www.parse-insight.eu/

• PARSE.Insight Roadmap [PDF 515KB]

The DPC has responded to the consultation on the Public records review, welcoming the explicit statement that digitized and ‘born digital’ materials constitute a public record, noting and supporting the focus on informational content and the consequent need for ‘technology proofing’ and the management of formats.  The DPC has offered its assistance in identifying and resolving issues that may arise.

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome St Andrews University as its latest associate member.

Birgit Plietzsch, Arts Computing Advisor at the University explained 'Most of today's information is held in a digital format. As a University we need to ensure that digital information remains accessible for as long as required. Our current focus is on the preservation of Arts and Humanities electronic resources. Such resources are often the outcome of expensive publicly funded research projects. It is in the interest of the scholarly community within the University to ensure the data contained within these resources is preserved in the long-term.'

Long-term access is improved when content and metadata are wrapped in a single package. In this way data managers will be able to access technical and administrative information with the content. The METS standard can help achieve this.

This case note examines the 'Archival Sound Recordings 2' project from the British Library, noting that one of the challenges for long term access to digitised content is to ensure that descriptive information and digitised content are not separated from each other. The British Library has used a standard called METS to prevent this.

The DPC, with help from the British Library , Portico and ULCC, and with funding from JISC, is pleased to announce the launch of the fourth in a series of Digital Preservation Case Notes.  The Case Notes offer straightforward examples of organisations and individuals tackling the digital preservation challenges that come from mass digitization.  The latest describes the Archival Sound Recordings (2) project from the British Library.  It discusses the benefits that accrue to preservation when content and metadata are wrapped together - and a technology called METS which can help to achieve that.

This one day conference, organised jointly between the DPC and the BL Preservation Advisory Centre, seeks to build on the communication between librarians, archivists, curators, conservators and digital preservation managers and establish a shared understanding of the issues surrounding the preservation of digital collections.

What are the similarities in our approach to the preservation of physical and digital collections, and where do the differences lie? The programme features pairs of speakers talking about the creation, management, preservation and use of digital collections. One speaker from each pair explores how use and access shapes approaches to digital preservation, and the other looks at the same issue from the technological perspective. The conference provides an introduction to digital preservation issues for the uninitiated and encourages those involved in the technology supporting digital preservation to learn how collections are developed and used.

Programme

The DPC has responded to the consultation on the Public records review, welcoming the explicit statement that digitized and ‘born digital’ materials constitute a public record, noting and supporting the focus on informational content and the consequent need for ‘technology proofing’ and the management of formats.  The DPC has offered its assistance in identifying and resolving issues that may arise.

Research shows that clear advice about the preservation of digital materials is both in high demand and can be difficult to procure, so we note the new role for the Keepr of the Public Record to advise and inspect archives.  The DPC has offered its help in two ways: to assist the Keeper in the production of specialist advice notes; and to support the Keeper in the wider dissemination of advice to a diverse audience that is hungry for solutions.

 'This represents an opportunity to build capacity for digital preservation in a diverse range of authorities' explained William Kilbride, Executive Director of the DPC.

Full text of the DPC response to the consultation.

Full text of the consultation