This document summarizes challenges and opportunities in preserving digital information for European research libraries. It discusses how libraries are increasingly digitizing content and collecting born-digital materials like websites and e-journals. This is driven by changes in scholarship and a push for open access. However, preservation is difficult due to the variety of information types and lack of selection processes, sustainable funding models, and governance. Opportunities exist through increased collaboration, shared infrastructure like Europeana Cloud, and developing common standards and tools.

1. Challenges & opportunities in the preservation of
(digital) information: the case of European
research libraries
Museo de las Ciencias Teatro de UNIVERSUM
November 6th- 8th, 2013
Susan Reilly
Projects Manager
LIBER: Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche
susan.reilly@kb.nl
@skreilly

2. Contents
 About LIBER
 Drivers for (digital) preservation in research libraries
 Challenges & opportunities

3. LIBER: reinventing the library of the future
 Largest network of European reseach libraries: 450 in over 40
countries
Mission:
To provide an information infrastructure to enable research
in LIBER institutions to be world class

4. LIBER Projects
Reshaping
The
research library
Advocacy
Scholarly
Communication
&
Research
Infrastructure

5. Activities impacting preservation in research
libraries
We know that…
1. Libraries are engaging in mass digitisation projects
2. Deposit of born digital content being legislated for
3. Some are collecting born digital (Websites, e-journal etc)
anyway
4. Responsible for institutional repositories
5. Developing role in research data management

6. Driver 1: scholarship is changing…
 Collaborative
 Interdisciplinary
 Change in information seeking behaviour (Google
Generation)
 Culture of ‘openness’

7. but preservation is still essential
“one thing about scholarship will never
change: scholars will demand access to
information resources to examine what others
have discovered and thought; to use and reuse
evidence and scientific conclusions; and to
publish results of their own research based on
these resources. That is why their sources
must be authentic, reliable, easy to find and
retrieve, and easy to use and reuse”
Paul N. Courant (2008) No brief candle,
http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub142/pub142.pdf

8. No. 1 benefit of digital preservation to
organisations*
“Increased use of content as a result of better
findability and availability”
*From APARSEN WP36 survey of libraries (Sep212)

9. No. 2 benefit to organisations
“Ensure the integrity of research results”

10. Driver 2: ensure our investment
All European cultural heritage available
online by 2025 (Neelie Kroes)
All public domain masterpieces available
in Europeana(Digital Agenda)
Cost= 10 billion per year over the next 10
years (Collections Trust)

11. Challenge 1= types of information
 Scholarly discourse
 Digital cultural heritage
 Research data
 Dynamic Web content

12. The Data
Publication Pyramid
(2) Further data
explanations in
any kind of
supplementary
files to articles
(4) Data
publications,
describing
available
datasets
How do we preserve this?
(1) Data
contained and
explained within
the article
(3) Data
referenced from
the article and
held in data
centers and
repositories
(5) Data in
drawers and on
disks at the
institute

13. Newspapers
 Complex format
 Large files
 Richness of metadata

14. Challenge 2= sustainability
 Recognition of the benefits of digital
preservation by key decision-makers
 Incentives for the decision-makers to act in the
public interest
 A process for selecting digital materials for
long-term preservation
 Mechanisms to secure an on-going, efficient
allocation of resources (e.g. skills) to digital
preservation activities
 Appropriate governance of digital preservation
activities

15. Selection
Seems to indicate there is no selection
process/set of critieria

16. Resource allocation
Open to new revenue streams and shared
services
Lack of human resources/skills
Incomplete cost models
Business models may not
meet short term needs

17. Governance
 57% of organisations have incorporated DP in strategy
 49% in mission and vision
?
But 89% rate DP as
important?!

18. Opportunity 1= collaboration
 Common Vision
 Shared Infrastructure
 Shared Services
 Business Cases

19. Shared Infrastructure: Europeana Cloud
 Common storage infrastructure for metadata and content
 Increase accessibility of content
 Develop common standards
 Facilitate the development of tools

20. ¡Gracias
 Any questions?
 Find out more at www.libereurope.eu