Digital Curation:
Fundamentals for Success
Presenter: Helen Tibbo
October 20, 2014
Santa Fe, New Mexico
©2012 Society of American Archivists
Digital Archives Specialist (DAS)
Curriculum and Certification Program offered by SAA:
Foundational Courses—must pass 4
Tactical and Strategic Courses—must pass 3
Tools and Services Courses—must pass 1
Transformational Courses—must pass 1
Course examinations are
administered online
1
Welcome and Today’s Overview
■
■
■
■
■
Review definitions
Building Blocks for Digital Curation Programs
A break mid-morning and mid-afternoon
Lunch around 12:00
End by 5:00pm
2
Course Description
 This
workshop will review the concepts, principles
and practices of digital curation necessary for
effectively managing digital objects, including
archival records, across generations of technology.
 This
workshop is an foundational course.
Suggested follow-on DAS courses include:
▪ Digital Curation: Planning and Sustainable
Futures
▪ Electronic Records Management
▪ Digital Archives and Digital Libraries
3
DAS Core Competencies Addressed
#1: Understand the nature of records in electronic form,
including the functions of various storage media, the
nature of system dependence, and the effect on integrity
of records over time.
#2: Communicate and define requirements, roles, and
responsibilities related to digital archives to a variety of
partners and audiences.
#5: Plan for the integration of new tools or successive
generation of emerging technologies, software and media.
#7: Provide dependable organization and service to
designated communities across networks.
4
Course Goals
 Understand
the general scope of digital curation as
an area of professional activity
 Explore relevant concepts for building sustainable
digital curation programs
 Consider the components of digital curation
 Identify roles and responsibilities of a range of digital
curation stakeholders
5
Definitions: Digital Curation
“maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of
digital information for future and current use”
Active management and appraisal over entire life cycle
 Builds upon underlying concepts of digital preservation
 Emphasizes opportunities for adding value through
annotation and continuing resource management
 Preservation is a curation activity - both are concerned
with managing digital resources with no significant (or only
controlled) changes over time

Source: JISC
6
Data Curation
+
Digital Preservation
Digital Curation
Original DCC definition, 2004
7
Definitions: Data Curation
“Active and on-going management of data through its
life cycle of interest and usefulness to scholarship,
science, and education…enables discovery, ensures
quality, adds value, and provide for re-use over time”
(University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Predates the digital community
 Value-added steps by curators to enhance utility
 Intersection of data science (curators) and research
(producers and consumers)

8
Definitions: Digital Preservation
“the active management of digital content over time to
ensure ongoing access”
(National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program Library of Congress)
Encourage quality creation by producers
 Document actions taken over the life of digital objects
 Ensure access over time
 Handshakes across generations of technology
 Proven technologies for preservation to contemporary for
access

9
What Is Digital Curation?
 “the
active management and preservation of digital
resources…for current and future generations of users.”

Digital Curation Centre. “What is Digital Curation?”
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/about/what/
of the term “digital curation” reflects increasing
confluence of several distinct communities
 Adoption

From Christopher A. Lee, DigCCurr Professional Institute
 “[Digital]
Curation…requires a commitment to undertake
duties of stewardship. However it should be noted that such a
commitment is influenced by a complex array of factors
including social, cultural, political, organizational, financial and
legal as well as technical issues.”

Patel, Coles, Giaretta, Rankin, and McIlwrath, 2009
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Terms Related to Digital Curation
Data
Curation
Data Management
Digital Archiving
Digital Libraries
Digital Preservation
Digital Stewardship
Use the language of your audience
What we do is as important as what it’s called
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Activities Related to Digital Curation
■ Care
of physical media
■ Computer-supported cooperative work
(CSCW)
■ Data Management
■ Digital archiving
■ Digital forensics & data recovery
■ Management of information systems (MIS)
■ Standards development
Source: C. Lee
12
Professions Related to Digital Curation
■ Art
& museum curation
■ Biocuration
■ Institutional & manuscripts archivists
■ Lawyers & auditors
■ Librarianship (esp. digital)
■ Physical science data archives
■ Social science data archives
Source: C. Lee
13
Research Related to Digital Curation
■ Cyberinfrastructure
and eScience
■ Hardware & software interoperability
■ Medical information (e.g. health records,
imaging, informatics)
■ Research on documents & document-centric
computing
Source: C. Lee
14
Digital Curation
+
Archival Records
Electronic Records Management
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Building Blocks for Digital Curation Programs
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
Conceptual frameworks
Organizational infrastructure
Technological infrastructure
Resource framework
Policy framework
Roles & responsibilities
Stakeholders
Content characteristics
Standards
Holistic workflows
Strategy & planning
Outreach & advocacy
Ongoing evaluation
16
1. Conceptual Frameworks
Community Documents and Standards
Models
 DPOE (Digital Preservation Outreach and Education)
 Electronic Records Lifecycle Specification (ERLS)
 DCC Curation Lifecycle Model
 Digital Preservation Three-legged Stool (Kenney and
McGovern, 2003)
Standards
 Trusted Digital Repositories 2002 (TDR)
 Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model
 ISO Trustworthy Digital Repositories Audit and Certification
2012
17
Digital Preservation Outreach and
Education (DPOE) Model
 Identify
the types of digital content you have
 Select the portion of your content to be preserved
 Store your selected content for the long term
 Protect your content every day & in emergencies
 Manage content across time & technologies
 Provide access to your digital content over time
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Electronic Records Lifecycle
Specification (ERLS)
Source: Robek et al., 1995 [reproduced Koiallka, 2003.]
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DCC’s Digital Curation Lifecycle Model
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/docs/publications/DCCLifecycle.pdf
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DPM Workshop’s Three-legged Stool
(how?)
(how much?)
(what?)
Adapted from: Kenney and McGovern, 2003
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2. Organizational Infrastructure
 Best
framework is 2002 Trusted Digital Repositories
 Best
reflected in:
o
o
o
o
o
mission
policy development and implementation
long-term planning
institutional commitment
participation by Producers and Consumers
Adapted from: Kenney and McGovern, 2003
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Attributes of a TDR
 OAIS
Compliance
 Administrative Responsibility
 Organizational Viability
 Financial Sustainability
 Technological and Procedural Suitability
 System Security
 Procedural Accountability
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3.Technological Infrastructure
 Most
comprehensive framework: Open Archival
Information System
 OAIS
o
o
o
o
o
o
is a combination of:
hardware and software
packaging and re-packaging
network, security, and services
functions and workflow
procedures, protocols, documentation
technical and curation skills
Adapted from: Kenney and McGovern, 2003
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OAIS Reference Model (high level)
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Current Tools (examples)
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■
■
■
■
■
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Archivematica
 http://archivematica.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page
ArchivesSpace
 http://archivesspace.net
BitCurator
 http://www.bitcurator.net
TRAC review self-assessment tool (on-line)
DRAMBORA
 http://www.repositoryaudit.eu/
Duke Data Accessioner
 http://coptr.digipres.org/Duke_Data_Accessioner
POWRR, Preserving (Digital) Objects With Restricted
Resources
 http://digitalpowrr.niu.edu/tool-grid/
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4. Resources Framework
$$$$
 Several
are in development
LIFE and LIFE2
The Keeping Research Data Safe (KRDS)
Benefits Analysis Toolkit
4C Project
Includes:
o
o
o
o
Staff, training, and development
Technology and related developments
Outreach and designated community support
Other digital object curation management
Adapted from: Kenney and McGovern, 2003
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5. Digital Curation Policy Framework
■A
policy framework to express the three-legged
stool for your organization
◻ Links to other policy documents and
standards
◻ Includes local definition of terms
◻ Includes roles and responsibilities
◻ And other components
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Benefits of Developing Policies
Digital Curation Team – three legs
 Defines institutional commitment
 Demonstrates compliance – requirements
 Manages expectations – stakeholders
 Defines issues and challenges
 Raises awareness – timing
 Identifies roles and responsibilities
 Builds
courtesy DPM workshop
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Examples of Policy Areas

■
■
■
■



Archival Storage
Collection Development
IP and Rights
Preservation Planning
Records Management
Service Level Agreements
Submission Agreements
Technical Infrastructure




IT Environment
Disaster Recovery Preparedness
Discovery and Use
Use Agreements
30
6. Roles and Responsibilities
 Effective
collaboration requires the definition of roles
Define the Roles
Appoint people to the roles
Roles might include more than one person
One person might have many roles
 Role
does not equal Job Description
 Be
Clear of your Role during different phases of
Digital Curation
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Capabilities for Digital Curation Roles
Address legal issues
Balance risks and costs
Build/maintain registries
Collaborate
Define good practice
Design object packages
Develop competencies
Develop polices
Develop programs
Develop workflows
Devise strategies
Enable interoperability
Identify dependencies
Invest in solutions
Investigate problems
Manage metadata
Manage repositories
Monitor technology
Promulgate standards
Raise awareness
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7. Stakeholders
 Funders
and broader community supporters
 Advocates
 Strategic decision makers
 Organizational direction setters
 High-level Administrators
 Users of Content
 Creators of Content
33
Raising Awareness
 Education
◻
◻
◻
◻
Training, Training, and More Training
In-Class and Online Modules
Annual Recertification
System template data entry practicum
 Community
◻
◻
◻
◻
◻
◻
of Users/Liaisons
Members only spaces
Mailing lists
Listservs
Wikis
Blogs
Social media
34
Message to the Masses
Publications
Annual Reports
Brochures
Flyers
FAQs
Presentations
Press Releases
Sales brochures
Talking points
White papers
Recruit Advocates
Best practices
End user case
studies
Enlist stakeholders
Satisfied content
creators
35
8. Characteristics of Content
 Digital
Objects have
 Bit
streams
 Creators
 Intellectual content
 Rights
 Technical specs
 Uses
 AND associated metadata
36
Building Blocks 9-13
9.
Standards (Relevant Examples)


10.
11.
Holistic workflows
Strategy & planning

12.
Preservation planning, self-assessment, external audits, and more
Outreach & advocacy

13.
PREMIS: Preservation Metadata Implementation Strategies, 2005
plus updates
TRAC: Trustworthy Repositories Audit and Certification, 2007 and
ISO 16363: 2012
You will need to engage a variety of stakeholders at various points
in the digital content lifecycle with various clear and terse
messages
Ongoing evaluation

Assessment is the basis of self-understanding and
improvement
37
WRAP-UP
PLANS FOR TOMORROW
A positive attitude toward change
and a flexible response structure