Digital Curation Centre
a centre of expertise in data curation and preservation
Aims & Organisation
Peter Burnhill
Director (Phase One)
www.dcc.ac.uk
Funders:
Overview
• Unifying Themes for the DCC
• Time for Digital Curation
• Aims & Objectives
• Organisation to Succeed
• Plans & Progress: Beyond Phase One
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Trusted Repositories of Knowledge
The Maori entrusted their knowledge to people,
trained to be the repositories,who could:
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receive information with the utmost accuracy
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store information with integrity beyond doubt
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retrieve the information without amendment
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apply appropriate judgement in the use of the information
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pass on the information appropriately.
Whatarangi Winiata, (2002), Repositories of Röpü Tuku Iho: A Contribution to the Survival of Mäori as a People,
Wellington: Library & Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa Annual Conference, 17-20 November 2002
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Special thanks to Professors Derek Law & Seamus Ross
What is digital curation ...
= f(data curation & digital preservation) + other concerns
• data curation [when high current/ongoing interest]
– actions to make best use of digital data & results over entire life-cycle
– adding value; generating new forms of information, for use
• digital preservation [for longevity;fall off in interest]
– long-run technological/legal accessibility & usability
– storage, maintenance & accessibility of information content in digital
material over the long-term, for use
•
•
•
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of interest/relevance to designated community (OAIS concept)
digital objects and data, over their life-cycle (records management)
for current & future generations of use ...
Unifying Themes for the DCC
• ‘data as evidence’
– for understanding and decision
– for one or more designated communities
• ‘archival responsibility’
– at one or more institutional levels
– institutional policies & individuals’ competence
– legal compliance & agreement on procedures
• turn ‘open access’ into ‘continuing access’
• turn costs into investment
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– valuing flow of benefit from re-usable assets
Time for Digital Curation
• problem of the moment
1 data curation & data deluge in e-science/research
2 longevity of digital heritage & research investment
• re-examining ‘Communication’ in ICT
– Internet and GRID: communication across space
with utmost accuracy
– Digital Curation: communication across time,
with utmost accuracy
• ensure Content travels despite turbulence of IT
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– agree strategies & methods for digital preservation
Aims & Objectives for the DCC
‘quality improvement
in data curation & digital preservation’
initial focus: data as evidence for scholarly conclusions
wider remit: scholarly communication & eLearning
• ‘excellence in research & excellence in service’
• working with repositories, rather than being one
• ‘connecting communities’ via Associates Network
– universities & research institutes
– scientific data tradition & document tradition
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– international & cross-sectoral
Organisation to Engage & Collaborate
curation
organisations
eg DPC
communities of
practice: users
community
support &
outreach
Collaborative
Associates
Network of
Data
Organisations
service
definition
& delivery
management
& admin
support
research
research
collaborators
development
co-ordination
testbeds
& tools
Industry
standards bodies
Organisation to Succeed
Phase One leadership over first eight months of funding
•
Community Support & Outreach
– Led by Dr Liz Lyon (UKOLN, University of Bath)
•
Service Definition & Delivery
– Led by Professor Seamus Ross (HATII [ERPANET], University of Glasgow)
•
Development
– Led by Dr David Giaretta (Astronomical Software & Services, CCLRC)
•
Research
– Led by Professor Peter Buneman (Informatics, University of Edinburgh)
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Management & Co-ordination
– Director (Phase One): Peter Burnhill
with Phase One Project Co-ordinator: Robin Rice
(both from EDINA & Data Library, University of Edinburgh)
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‘Ex Portfolio’: Malcolm Atkinson (NeSC) & Chris Rusbridge (UofGlasgow)
Engage Communities of Practice
• with those who have responsibility
• … to invoke/provoke good practices
– appraisal & retention/disposal
– logical & physical integrity: authenticity/security
• place research in productive research domains
– eg Informatics, Law School, e-Science ...
• work on the ‘R&D’, create services of relevance
– achieve ‘virtuous circle’
– turn products of research into tools for use
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Digital preservation approaches
1. Migration & Refreshment
–
–
software & media
while interest (& funding) is active
2. Emulation & Encapsulation
–
re-creating the IT environment
3. Digital Archaeology & Rescue
–
urgent action to save key datasets
4. Representation Information
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–
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as well as bits
formats and more
Communities of Practice:
Social Sciences (IASSIST)
• History of sharing
– split in responsibility and authority for data generation & analysis
– economy of re-use recognised
• Data about people
– problems of privacy and confidentiality confronted early on
• Mixed blessing of agreed proprietary formats allows migration
– OSIRIS, SPSS, etc.
• ‘Future-proofing’ - 30 years of data advocacy!
– tradition of data archiving & data citation
– building new data standards out of common experience
• data archivists, & data librarians: the new digital curators?
• www.iassistdata.org
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Planning & Progress
• plan for the Long, with 2020 Vision - 15years on
• large territory, and large expectation
– multi-disciplinary, multi data type, multi tradition/profession
– national and international, but also local and hidden from view
– a lot is going on
• we acknowledge trust and ££’s for tasks in hand
– seek collaboration & identify win-win-win scenarios
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¾
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•
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now, having set the stage
Engaging the Users: Outreach & Community Support
Ensuring Curation Action: Constructing Effective Services
Preparing for the Future: the R&D Programme