This document summarizes a 4-year EU-funded project called PERICLES that involves 11 partners. The project addresses the challenge of long-term access to digital content as environments continually evolve. It recognizes that the meaning and understanding of digital objects depends not only on the objects themselves but also on the evolving environments in which they were created. The project is developing tools and models to extract, represent, and encapsulate information about dynamic preservation ecosystems in order to better support the long-term reuse of digital content over time. It is currently halfway through and has made progress on describing digital ecosystems and dependencies, as well as seeking feedback on its approaches to environment extraction, encapsulation, and appraisal.

1. GRANT AGREEMENT: 601138 | SCHEME FP7 ICT 2011.4.3
Promoting and Enhancing Reuse of Information throughout the Content Lifecycle taking account of Evolving
Semantics [Digital Preservation]
Adil Hasan, King’s College London
11 February, IDCC 2015, London

2.  4 year FP7 EU-funded project addressing the
challenge of long-term access to digital
content in continually evolving environments
 11 Partners
Promoting and Enhancing Reuse of Information throughout the
Content Lifecycle taking account of Evolving Semantics

3.  Observation that digital objects and related metadata
are generated as a continuum within a continually
changing environment
 Long-term sustainability requires us to address change
more broadly (not only technological change!)
 Future access to content requires information about
that environment to be captured, managed and
interpreted, not just information about the digital
objects being “preserved”
Change might lead to loss of meaning
and understanding of information

4. By Rob Young from United Kingdom (Stonehenge) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)] via Wikimedia Commons
Looks important, but what is it? How do you use it?

5. Technology Policies Users Processes Semantic
Images: U. S. Army Photo, Two women operating the ENIAC, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Two_women_operating_ENIAC.gif
Jfreyre, typical server rack, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rack001.jpg, Attribution-Share Alike

6. Technology Policies Users Processes Semantic
Images: umjanedoan, CC BY 2.0, Law books on a shelf. https://www.flickr.com/photos/umjanedoan/497364007, "Environmental Law Practice Guide“
https://www.flickr.com/photos/umjanedoan/497364021/in/photostream/

7. Technology Policies Users Processes Semantic
Images: Intel Free Press, Child with Apple iPad, https://www.flickr.com/photos/intelfreepress/8433147083
General Services Administration. National Archives and Records Service. Office of Educational Programs. Education Division. ARC Identifier 3493233.

8. Technology Policies Users Processes Semantic
Process Part A Action B
Result CTransformation
Finish
Process
Part A
Action B Finish

9. Technology Policies Users Processes Semantic
„Computer“ 1949 „Computer“ 1970
Images: NASA – Dryden Flight Research Center Photo Collection - http://www.dfrc.nasa.gov/Gallery/Photo/Places/HTML/E49-54.html
ESA, Herschel-Planck onboard computer, Id 307846, 1970, http://www.esa.int/spaceinimages/Images/2011/10/Herschel-Planck_onboard_computer

10.  Approach and methodology:
 Research underpinned by 2 case studies:
• Space science data
• Media and digital artworks
 Preservation by design
 Model-driven preservation
 Scenario-driven test-beds
 Core research activities:
 Develop conceptual framework and unified model, based on
linked data principles for representing dynamic preservation
ecosystems
 Produce tools for extraction and encapsulation of significant
environment information, appraisal and reuse
 Extend existing lifecycle models to address the evolution of
preservation ecosystems

11.  Currently half-way through the project
(ends 31 January 2017)
◦ Work done on describing the digital ecosystem, its entities and
dependencies
◦ Work on creation of a conceptual model of the dependencies
◦ Work on defining an architectural framework for the test-beds
◦ First evaluation of progress
◦ Use case scenario development
◦ Work done on identifying and capturing information necessary for
content reuse
◦ Work started on encapsulating this information
◦ Work starting on approaches for appraisal
See deliverables: http://pericles-project.eu/deliverables

12.  Describe how our environment extraction
application works and seek feedback and
comments (Fabio Corubolo).
 Describe current approach regarding
environment encapsulation and seek
feedback (Anna-Grit Eggers).
 Describe current thoughts on appraisal and
seek feedback (Simon Waddington).
You are very important!

13. ◦ http://pericles-project.eu
◦ Twitter: @PericlesFP7
◦ Contacts:
◦ mark.hedges@kcl.ac.uk (Project coordinator)
◦ christine.sauter@kcl.ac.uk (Project manager)
◦ linda.ligios@kcl.ac.uk (Communications coordinator)

14. Thank you!