Event: Guest lecture on introduction to digital curation for Prof. Elaine Menard's GLIS 639: Introduction to Museology class, School of Information Studies, McGill University (January 28, 2011)

1. DIGITAL CURATION
Dr. Carolyn Hank
carolyn.hank@mcgill.ca
School of Information Studies
McGill University
GLIS 639: Intro to Museology
28 January 2011

2. Image Credit: Tim Gough, New York Times, October 2, 2009 (All Rights Reserved).
Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/fashion/04curate.html

4. CURATE IS NOT ALONE
“ … the word archive has lost much of its traditional
meaning and associations … archivists have literally
lost control over the definition of archive.” (Hedstrom,
1991, p. 336)
“…despite the recent appropriation of „archive‟ as a
verb to mean „store‟ or „to preserve,‟ the traditional
meaning of archives as a noun is narrower.” (CLIR,
2001, p. 85)
“Traditionally, preservation and archiving have had two
distinct definitions with preservation being a necessary
component of, but not equivalent to, the totality of
archiving.” (Tibbo, 2003, p. 11)

5. KEEPING UP WITH DATA ROT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-2vv7Y6Rww

6. DISCUSSION

7. DEFINITIONS
DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) - Short/Medium
SHORT: “Digital preservation combines policies, strategies and
actions that ensure access to digital content over time.”
MEDIUM: “Digital preservation combines policies, strategies and
actions to ensure access to reformatted and born digital content
regardless of the challenges of media failure and technological
change. The goal of digital preservation is the accurate rendering
of authenticated content over time.”
SOURCE: http://www.ala.org/ala/alcts/newslinks/digipres/index.cfm

8. DEFINITIONS
DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) – Long
“Digital preservation combines policies, strategies and actions to
ensure the accurate rendering of authenticated content over
time, regardless of the challenges of media failure and
technological change. Digital preservation applies to both born
digital and reformatted content.
Digital preservation policies document an organization’s
commitment to preserve digital content for future use; specify
file formats to be preserved and the level of preservation to be
provided; and ensure compliance with standards and best
practices for responsible stewardship of digital information.
Digital preservation strategies and actions address content
creation, integrity and maintenance.”

9. DEFINITIONS
DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) – Long
CONTENT CREATION INCLUDES:
– Clear and complete technical specifications
– Production of reliable master files
– Sufficient descriptive, administrative and structural
metadata to ensure future access
– Detailed quality control of processes

10. DEFINITIONS
DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) – Long
CONTENT INTEGRITY INCLUDES:
– Documentation of all policies, strategies and procedures
– Use of persistent identifiers
– Recorded provenance and change history for all objects
– Verification mechanisms
– Attention to security requirements
– Routine audits

11. DEFINITIONS
DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) – Long
CONTENT MAINTENANCE INCLUDES:
– A robust computing and networking infrastructure
– Storage and synchronization of files at multiple sites
– Continuous monitoring and management of files
– Programs for refreshing, migration and emulation
– Creation and testing of disaster prevention and recovery
plans
– Periodic review and updating of policies and procedures

12. DEFINITIONS
DIGITAL CURATION (DCC)
Digital curation, broadly interpreted, is about maintaining and
adding value to a trusted body of digital information for current
and future use.
The active management and preservation of digital resources
over the life-cycle of scholarly and scientific interest, and over
time for current and future generations of users.
“What Is Digital Curation?”http://www.dcc.ac.uk/about/what/

13. Source: http://www.dcc.ac.uk/lifecycle-model/

14. WHY THIS MATTERS
A SAMPLE OF SELECT ISSUES
–Creating durable digital objects
–Hardware and software obsolescence
–File formats
–Rights management and other legal and ethical issues
–Metadata (minimum/optimal/practical)
–Appraisal and selection
–Quality control and “trustworthiness”
–Commitment to the long-term
–Resource allocation, costing, and staffing
–Funding for development and sustainability

15. Council on Library and Information Resources. (2001). The
evidence in hand: Report of the Task Force on the Artifact in
Library Collections. (CLIR Publication No. 103). Washington,
DC: Author. Retrieved from
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub103/contents.html
Hedstrom, M. (1991). Understanding electronic incunabula: A
framework for research on electronic records. American
Archivist, 54(3), 334-354.
Tibbo, H.R. (2003). On the nature and importance of archiving in the
digital age. In M. Zelkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Computers:
Information Repositories, 57 (pp. 1-67). San Diego, CA: Elsevier.
REFERENCES

16. QUESTIONS?
Dr. Carolyn Hank
carolyn.hank@mcgill.ca
School of Information Studies
McGill University