The Fundamentals
of Preserving Knowledge Assets
USC's Dual Approach
Pacific Neighborhood Consortium 2010
Catherine Quinlan, Dean of the USC Libraries
Outline
 The University of Southern California
 Preserving knowledge assets
 Defining the academic knowledge asset
 Digital collections
 Physical collections
 Next steps
The University of Southern California
 Faculty: 3,200
 Staff: 10,800
 Global alumni: 233,000
 Endowment: $2.7 billion
 Sponsored research: $560.9 million
 U.S. News and World Report academic
ranking: 23rd in the U.S.
The University of Southern California
 Students
 Undergraduates: 17,500
 Graduate and professional: 19,500
 24% of 2010 applicants accepted; middle 50% SAT
range: 1950-2170
 Top North American university for
international students
 7,987 enrolled
 70% in graduate-level programs, most in
engineering
 From 110 countries; most from India and China
The University of Southern California
Global offices
 China
 Hong Kong
 Japan
 Korea
 Mexico
 Taiwan
International academic programs
http://globalization.usc.edu/programs/map/
The USC Libraries
 23 libraries and information
centers, including health
sciences
 240 library faculty and staff
 4.2 million volumes
 E-resources—92,812 journals
and 1,270 research databases
Defining the Academic Knowledge Asset
 Content
 Research value
 Curricular relevance
 Pre-publication research and data—additional
mining and remixing
 Institutional needs
 University archives
 Business records
 Collections outside the libraries
Defining the Academic Knowledge Asset
 Format agnostic
 Printed materials
 Born-digital works
 Multimedia
 Large data sets
 Physical artifacts with cultural or
historical value
USC’s Dual Approach
1. Use existing infrastructure to develop additional
capacity for digital collections
 USC Libraries imaging, cataloging, and metadata
expertise
 USC Shoah Foundation Institute preservation and
presentation systems
 ITS high-performance network and computing facilities
2. Provide a high-quality physical preservation
environment
1. The USC Digital Repository
 A partnership among the USC Libraries, USC Information
Technology Services, and the USC Shoah Foundation
Institute
 An infrastructure that provides access to digitized or borndigital collections:
 Enable access any time, anywhere
 Encourage research in the digital environment
 Generate revenue by extending services to private-sector clients
 USC super-computer—5th fastest in the world—and highperformance network provide access services
Digital Repository Core Functions
 Digitization—Leverage mass digitization systems and USC
Digital Library imaging systems
 Cataloging—Use the Shoah Foundation indexing system, plus
additional metadata resources from the Digital Library
 Digital preservation—Expansion of the current 8-petabyte
system
 Digital Library access—Leverage high-performance computing
systems and networks to distribute content
 File-server services for large assets—Provide easy access to all
preserved materials through derivatives and alternate file formats
Digital Challenges and Risks
 Digitization—no matter how advanced—does
not equal preservation

Reliability and degradation of physical storage media

The newer the medium, the faster it fails

Migration challenges and expense

Bit flipping
 Digital obsolescence and preservation of means
to read media
 Intellectual value of the object—in some cases
the form is the content
2. Automated Storage and Retrieval
System (ASRS)
 Archival-quality environmental control—books printed
on acid paper last 40 years longer
 Faster service—the ASRS delivers materials within 5
minutes of a request
 Efficiency—the ASRS stores materials in 1/12 the space
of conventional shelving
 Enhance and encourage discovery
 Revenue generation from campus and private-sector
clients
USC’s Dual Approach to Digital Services
and Physical Collections
Print
Materials
Special
Collections
Automated
Storage
and Retrieval
System
Multimedia
Materials
Digital
Repository
Physical
Artifacts
Born-Digital
Materials
Integrated Library
System
Users and
Researchers
around the
World
High-Performance
Network
Next Steps
 ASRS

Completed feasibility study

Secure provostial approval

Raise funds for U.S. $50 million construction

Determine location for 800,000 cubic-foot facility
 Digital Repository

Funded start-up phase for U.S. $200,000

Identifying initial partners and clients

USC units

Film industry (e.g. Paramount Studios)
Additional Information
USC Libraries
www.usc.edu/libraries
Shoah Foundation Institute
college.usc.edu/vhi/