DPC

Email is arguably the most ubiquitous, inexorable and voluminous manifestation of information technology. It is a defining characteristic of our age and a critical element in all manner of communications and transactions. Industry and commerce depend upon email; families and friendships are sustained by email; government and economies rely upon email; communities are created and strengthened by email.  It is sometimes hard to remember how we functioned before the widespread adoption of email in public and private life. But for all the importance of email and the transactions it supports, it is surprisingly absent from much of the digital preservation literature.  Institutions, organizations and individuals have a considerable investment and in many cases statutory requirements to safeguard large collections of email, so there ought to be a strong body of experience and clear workflows to follow.  So why is there so little detailed advice available?

To some extent email encapsulates many of the core challenges of digital preservation.  It would be simple to preserve if it were not for the infinite variety of attachments that go with it; it would be simple to preserve if we could eliminate all the duplicates and spam; if we could remove all the personal details; if we could resolve the copyright issues; if we could resolve access and security barriers. These and other subtle, complex demands mean that the relatively simple proposition of preserving our collected digital correspondence can be blighted by interminable wrangling over procedure, policy and technology.  Nonetheless the preservation of email creates a readily understood basis to engage with the widest possible audience with digital preservation.  It provides a pervasive environment for innovation and assessment of digital preservation tools and services.  It will be a necessary component to ensure our digital memory is accessible tomorrow.

This DPC briefing day will provide a forum for members to review and debate the latest developments in the preservation of email. 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 a discussion of key topics such as:

• lifecycle management of email
• Ingest, documentation and accession of email archives
• Emerging tools and policies for preservation of email

Who should come?

This day will be of interest to:

• Collections manager, librarians, archivists in all institutions
• Tools developers and policy makers in digital preservation
• Innovators and researchers in information policy and management
• Innovators and researchers in computing science
• Vendors and providers of email services

Draft Programme Outline

1030      Registration and Coffee

1100      Welcome and introductions (William Kilbride, DPC)

1105      The Nature of the Problem (Chris Prom, University of Illinois)

1135      Why preserving email is harder than it sounds - theory and practice (Stephen Howard, Information Management Officer, the United Nations)

1205      Receiving and managing email archives at the Bodleian Libraries - a case study (Susan Thomas, Bodleian Libraries)

1235      Discussion and questions

1245      Lunch

1330      Email management: 15 wasted years and counting (Steve Bailey, JISC InfoNet)

1355      Past, present and future in email preservation: practical experience and future directions (Maureen Pennock, British Library)

1420      Emerging tools for email preservation (Tom Jackson, Loughborough University)

1445      Discussion and questions

1500      Coffee

1515      Discussion and panel (led by Tim Gollins, TNA)

By 1600 Close

As digital resources grow in scale, complexity and importance so the task of making sense of collections becomes more involved.  It can be a significant challenge to retrieve, assess and access digital data even when they are thoughtfully arranged and their context is well understood.  In an increasing number of cases, however, archives, memory institutions and researchers in all kinds of settings find themselves with the challenge of managing, preserving and interpreting collections with only limited provenance and description.  Laptops, hard disks and mobile phones now hold those original manuscripts and working notes that fascinate and inform readers and historians alike.  The digital jumble of modern life conceals collections of great value; the feint and muddled traces of relationships lie buried beneath the surface; an invisible and ephemeral confusion of bits and bytes witness transactions and connections not obvious to the naked eye.   Little wonder then that archivists, collections managers and researchers are increasingly turning to forensics to make sense of collections.  Tools and methods originally developed for the detection and detention of criminals provide a basis for a new kind of analytical collection management.  But skills are short and tools are developing quickly.  How do we preserve and protect this data?  How do we protect the reputations of depositors, researchers and ourselves?

Digital forensics lie at the intersection of many of the core challenges of digital collections management, especially for those collecting institutions that deal in the papers and correspondence of personal and public life.  How do we cope with the growing scale and complexity?  How do forensics relate to more familiar concepts like cataloguing and characterisation? How can we make our workflows more efficient and our collections more manageable? What tools do we need for discovery and what are the limits of reasonable deployment? What advice should we give to depositors and what restrictions might we put on users?

This DPC briefing day will provide a forum for members to review and debate the latest development in the use of digital forensics for 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:
• Digital archives and mobile devices
• Tools for e-discovery
• Integration of forensics with preservation workflows
• The practical, ethical and reasonable limits of forensic enquiry

Who should come?

This day will be of interest to:

• Collections managers, curators and archivists in all institutions
• Tools developers and policy makers in digital preservation
• Innovators and researchers in information policy and management
• Innovators and researchers in computing science
• Vendors and providers of digital preservation services

Draft Programme Outline

1030       Registration and Coffee

1100       Welcome and introductions (William Kilbride, DPC)

1105       The nature of the problem, (Jeremy Leighton John, British Library)

1135      e-discovery and Sense-Making: Tools, Techniques and Processes (Simon Attfield, Middlesex University)

1200       Mobile forensics: A case study (Brad Glisson, HATII, University of Glasgow)

1225       The Stanford Forensics Lab: A Case Study (Michael Olson, Stanford University)

1250       Question and answer

1300       Lunch

1345       Trends and tools 1 (Gareth Knight, CERch, King's College London)

1410       Trends and tools 2 (Kam Woods, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

1435       Question and answer

1445       Coffee

1500       Panel session and discussion: the practical and reasonable limits of forensics (TBC)

1550       Wrap up (William Kilbride, DPC)

By 1600 Close

The AIMS Project, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, brings together the Universities of Hull, Virginia, Stanford, and Yale. The partners are processing and preserving a total of 13 born-digital collections, in doing so we hope to develop a common framework and good practice guidelines that can be adopted and applied by other organisations.The session will introduce the AIMS model but the idea is not to seek external review of the model at this stage but to facilitate discussion with a core group of practitioners to look at three core aspects:

• collection management
• arrangement and description
• discovery and access

A series of brief presentations from invited speakers will then be followed by open discussion amongst the delegates about practical issues that could range from working with depositors, using and integrating 3rd party tools, born digital archives workflow and other aspects. With no previous experience of born-digital archives prior to the project we sought to apply traditional archival theories and principles from managing paper archives to the born-digital material. The day will revisit the professional principles - not to question them but to look at them from a born-digital archives perspective.The day will provide a forum for a core group of digital preservation experts to discuss issues and opportunities with colleagues. We hope that delegates will bring insight and experiences, both good and bad, and leave with new ideas to consider.

Who should come?

The sessions are aimed at practitioners in all sectors and in all sizes of institution who are currently active in the field of digital preservation.  It is expected that all delegates will actively contribute to the discussion and debate that will follow the brief presentations from speakers.

Draft Programme Outline

1030       Welcome - Dr William Kilbride, DPC

1035       The Aims Project approach and Model - Judy Burg & Simon Wilson, AIMS Project, Hull University Archives

11.15       Break

11.30     Collection Development & Accessioning

1) Extending collecting policies to include born-digital archives - Chris Hilton and Natalie Walters, Wellcome Library

2) Changing nature of the relationship with depositors - Elinor Robinson, LSE

12.30    Lunch

13.15     Arrangement & Description

3) Cataloguing hybrid collections - Susan Thomas, Bodleian Library

4) Presenting hybrid collections - Jeremy John, British Library

14.15      Break

14.30    Discovery & Access

5) Discovery and access - Tim Gollins, The National Archives

6) Use and impact - Catherine Hardman, The Archaeology Data Service

15.30     Drawing it all together – the sum of all the parts Judy Burg, Archivist, University of Hull

16.00     Close

Further notes on the event can be found on the AIMS website here.

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to announce that Angela Dappert and Sharon McMeekin will be joining the DPC as Special Project Officers.

‘People are often surprised to discover that the DPC achieves so much with such a small staff complement,’ explained Richard Ovenden, Chair of the DPC.  ‘Appointing two new staff means a 100% increase in staff and a radical expansion in the benefits we can deliver to members. It’s a really exciting development for the Coalition.’

Part of the DATUM for Health project; conducted by Northumbria University and funded by JISC

Flexible and timely access to information has the potential to transform professional practice and research in health studies and related disciplines, but the promise can only be delivered if we can overcome the threats of obsolescence. A decade of research and development has begun to make available the sorts of robust tools, techniques and services which our generation will need to ensure that our digital memory is accessible tomorrow. But the capacity to deliver long term access remains focussed in the hands of a small number of information specialists. This skills shortage presents a key strategic challenge to the delivery of fundamental services for medicine, health, wellbeing, and related sectors where research data is highly confidential and may need to be retained for long periods of time. Ethical, legislative and economic imperatives mean that thoughtful but rapid development in robust research data management policies and services will be required over the next decade. Research data management skills are badly needed so that new entrants into the health and medical professions are prepared for the rapidly changing requirements of the information age.

This DPC briefing day is intended to introduce key concepts of digital preservation to students and information managers working in the health and wellbeing sectors. It will provide a forum to review and debate the latest development in the preservation of digital qualitative research data in the health field and it will initiate a discussion on how the necessary skills can most effectively be developed. Based on commentary and case studies from leaders in the field, participants will be presented with emerging tools and technologies and will be encouraged to propose and debate the future for these developments. The day will include a discussion of:

• Effective management of qualitative data in health
• Emerging tools and services for long term access to research data
• Research data management: policy and practice
• Practical research data management skills for health professionals

Who should come?

• Research and taught postgraduate students in health and related disciplines
• Managers and funders of research projects in health and related disciplines
• Repository managers providing access to publications and data in health
• Tools developers and policy makers in digital preservation
• Innovators and researchers that provide digital services to the health sector
• Vendors and providers of information management services

Finalized Programme

(download programme for the day - pdf 269kb)

1030 Registration and Coffee

1100 Welcome and Introductions: Prof Julie McLeod, Northumbria University (Datum for Health Project)

1110 Digital preservation and long term access: challenges, opportunities, approaches and tools, William Kilbride, DPC

1135 Managing qualitative data, Louise Corti, UK Data Archive, University of Essex

1200 Managing qualitative data for health research: A researcher’s experiences, John Given, Researcher in narrative studies in health

1225 The challenges of digital preservation at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Victoria Cranna, London School of Hygience and Tropical Medicine

1250 Questions

1300 Lunch

1345 Data - manage it, make the most of it! Prof Charlotte Clarke, Associate Dean (Research), School of Health, Community and Education Studies, Northumbria University

1400 Strategic view of research data management for Higher Education, Dr Simon Hodson, JISC

14.25 Managing qualitative data for health research: A case study, Ruth Sanders, The Health Experiences Research Group, University of Oxford

1450 Tea and coffee

1505 The Challenges of Digital Preservation in a Changing Environment, Andrew Pitt, Pfizer

1530 Roundtable: what is to be done, why and by whom? Chair by Julie McLeod with Charlotte Clarke, Louise Corti, Simon Hodson, William Kilbride, other speakers, etc.

1600 Close

Portsmouth University joins the Coalition

The Digital Preservation Coalition is delighted to welcome the University of Portsmouth as its latest associate member. 

'The Future Proof Computing Group at the University of Portsmouth has a track record of research and development of digital preservation through initiatives like the KEEP project (Keeping Emulation Environments Portable)' explained Dr David Anderson. 'We're about to start a new project, POCOS, funded by the JISC, on the preservation of complex objects, and have interests in topics like the sustainability of computer games technology, the history of computing, emulation, virtualization and data warehousing.

Emerging tools and services for digital preservation are typically built around the need to preserve texts, documents, images and data sets.  Audio and video – broadly defined as time-based-media - have received less attention within the library and archive communities, partly because they have historically been seen as distinct, partly because they present new technical challenges, and partly because they have hitherto represented only a small proportion of the collections which memory institutions and research archives collect.  However, the simplicity with which digital video and audio can be captured and the ease and popularity of online distribution means that they are now ubiquitous, creating new concern for long term access.  As more and more of our cultural and scientific legacy is being created in digital audio-visual formats, so those managing long term access to data need to understand the challenges and opportunities which these formats bring.  New skills and new techniques will be required to ensure our digital audio and video memory is accessible tomorrow.

This DPC briefing day will provide a forum for members to review and debate the latest development in the preservation of digital sound and vision. Based on commentary and case studies from leaders in the field, participants will be presented with emerging tools and technologies and will be encouraged to propose and debate new directions for research.  The day will include a discussion of key

• Preservation of digital audio formats and collections
• Preservation of digital video formats and collections
• Creation, documentation and retrieval of digital sound and video
• Emerging tools and policies for preservation

Who should come?

This day will be of interest to:

• Collections manager, librarians, archivists and conservators with responsibility for audio and video collections
• Managers and funders of digitization projects
• Repository managers providing access to data linked to publications
• Tools developers and policy makers in digital preservation
• Innovators and researchers in digital sound and video
• Innovators and researchers in computing science
• Vendors and providers of collections management services

Draft Programme Outline

1030       Registration and Coffee

1100       Welcome and introductions (William Kilbride, DPC)

1110       Defining the 'Value Proposition' for Audio-Visual Preservation: The Nature of the Problem, Nicky Whitsed, Open University

1130       Collecting, conserving and managing sound archives Richard Ranft, British Library Sound Archive

1150       Creators and consumers: digital sound and vision as research outputs, Stephen Gray, JISC Digital Media

1210       Challenges and solutions in broadcast archives, John Zubrycki, BBC

1230       Discussion and questions

1300       Lunch

1340       Presto Centre and emerging tools in preservation of audio-visual collections, Richard Wright, BBC

1400       Access to Video Assets Project, The Open University: Outcomes and Lessons Learnt, Sue Allcock, James Alexander, Open University

1420       Emerging tools for digital sound, Mark Plumbley and Simon Dixon, Queen Mary University of London.

1440       Coffee

1500       Discussion: what is to be done, why and by whom?

By 1600 Close

Download programme and introduction

The National Library of Ireland is the latest organisation to join the Digital Preservation Coalition, helping the Library to address the challenges and opportunities associated with long term management of digital collections.