Presentation by William Kilbride, DPC at the DigCurV International Conference; Framing the digital curation curriculum May 6-7 Florence, Rome

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our digital memory accessible tomorrow
A future with no history meets a history
with no future:
perspectives on how much we should
know about digital preservation
@WilliamKilbride
william@dpconline.org

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What does Digital Preservation sound like?
How much do students need to know?
Why that matters?
What is to be done?
• (3 ways of being)
• (2 big ideas thanks to DigiCurV)
• (4 scenarios)
• (curricula)

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Digital Preservation Makes Bleak Reading?

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The Newham Archive
Cyber-boffins to the rescue!

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<Enter your details here>
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Digital preservation typically makes bleak reading 2
Raises awareness but doesn’t really solve the problem

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… or …

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Digital preservation or
Digital continuity or
Digital legacy or
Permanent access or
Digital curation or
Intelligent continuity or
Cyber lifecycle or
Long term data retention or
Whatever term you wish to coin this week
Thinking of clever words and arguing over their meanings
is easier than finding solutions

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… or …

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How hard can it be?
Daunting challenge
Decade of research and development
Replete with jargon and acronyms
Turf war between professions?
Disconnected from practice?
A whole new barrier?
The solutions are in here, but how does one make sense
of it all?

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and…

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Challenge growing on (at least) three axes
Scale
Complexity
Importance

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How can we frame a curriculum around this?
Two observations from
(substantiated by) DigCurv:
•Flexibility
•Breadth

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‘What I wish I knew before I started’

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DigCurV Focus Groups and APARSEN
• Improve communication between technical and non-technical staff through
shared vocabulary.
• Raise awareness of digital across organizations.
• Better integrate physical and digital collections.
• Ensure staff possessed domain knowledge and curation skills.
• Develop methodologies for keeping on top of rapidly changing technologies.
• Provide non-technical staff with a basic understanding of IT concepts.
• Develop mechanisms for informed decisions about standards and systems.
• Maximize access and understand users.
• Make informed decisions about selecting digital collections.
• Embed process in the normal workflows of the organization.
• Better understand the legal issues surrounding digital curation

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And if you really push them they say ...
Train staff
to be
flexible

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Breadth ... DigCurv Curriculum Framework
Mapped to actual roles
Clear but flexed to local needs
Extensive but not doctrinaire
From experience not
assumption

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Strong recognition of
Business planning and
Business improvement
Projects and services

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Strong knowledge of
principles and practice
Engaged with users
Manages ‘up and across’

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Strong knowledge of
regulation and legalities
Implicitly strong
knowledge of use case

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Responsive to change
Integrity – works up and
down

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Train staff
to be
flexible
Why this is
the correct
approach in
four thought
experiments
about digital
preservation
and how it is
changing

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Digital objects
Project
Infrastructure and technological innovation
Pilot
Plan
Fund
Propose
Scope
Invite
Fieldwork
Qualityassure
merge
Processing
Delivery
handover
Obsolescence
ReleaseValue
Begin
PRESERVATION-READY OBJECTS?
Digital Preservation in 10 years time 1:
the preservation ready objects

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Digital Preservation in 10 years time 1:
the preservation ready objects
Deal with the route causes of
obsolescence via:
•File formats
•Documentation
•E-Discovery

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Digital Preservation in 10 years time 2:
Preservation As A Service
Trusted repository an obsolete
concept (metaphor)
•Staff and skills
•Organisation
•Succession planning
•Micro-services
•The ‘internet of things’

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Product Lifecycle
Management
Concrete TIMBUS Example
CAD/CAM
System
Machine Tool
Manufacturer
Supply Chain
Management
Material
Supplier
Material
Manufacturer

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Finding dependencies
Varying performances
Virtualisation / emulation
of preservation tools
Micro-services
Digital Preservation in 10 years time 2:
Preservation As A Service

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Digital Preservation in 10 years time 3:
All Digital Preservation as Web Archiving
• 3Es: everything, everywhere,
electronic
• Open linked data
• Legal deposit
• WARC standard
• Policy and institutions
• Commercial services
• Producer / Archive hand-off

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Digital Preservation in 10 years time 4:
Virtualisation for preservation
• Preservation on demand
• Ubiquitous tools and services
• Virtual platforms for
computing
• Virtualisation manager
• Invisible preservation

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So … what makes a curriculum
Responsive to technology
Responsive to emerging research
Based on actual needs
Adapted to role and
environment
Values not technology

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So … what makes a SUCCESSFUL curriculum
What will digital preservation be like in a
decade?
Tell me that and I will describe the
curriculum in detail…
‘In times of change learners inherit the earth;
while the learned find themselves beautifully
equipped to deal with a world that no longer
exists.’ Eric Hoffer via Patricia Sleeman

34. www.dpconline.org
our digital memory accessible tomorrow
A future with no history meets a history
with no future:
perspectives on how much we should
know about digital preservation
@WilliamKilbride
william@dpconline.org