Identifying, Preserving and Providing Access to Born-Digital Records National Archives Conference for Fraternities and Sororities July 17, 2010 Urbana, Illinois Christopher J. Prom, PhD Assistant University Archivist and Associate Professor University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Real World “[We] submitted a proposal for developing a plan, with guidelines, for managing [electronic] materials. The need for this plan is becoming acute, as many member governance materials are created only electronically, distributed electronically and referenced electronically—except that they might be stored as documents on the website, as documents in [an online membership portal], or on various people’s hard drives. We will be losing our history if we don’t act now.” “The goal of the project is the plan—and we need your help. First, we need your expertise to guide us toward appropriate archival principals and to point us to a process that will mesh with your capabilities; second, we need your input on a possible investigator to survey the need, describe best practice and suggest a plan.” In May: “The amount is relatively small, so we’re hoping a graduate student or recent graduate might be available. The time frame is from now until the end of August. ”

Project Goals Assess tools to appraise, process, preserve, provide access Develop policy templates/ recommendations for ‘small’ archives Assemble toolkit

Key Messages Digital preservation can be made as simple or complex as you like Key element is building trust Software is available, but people and commitment are the keys to success

Overview A: Understanding threats B: Mitigating the threats C: Planning and Implement a program to identify, preserve, and provide access to electronic records D: Selecting tools and services Concluding Discussion: Sustaining the program

Provisos I am new to the field My method is based on research: – – Not (yet) been tested in the field – Actively seeking partners – Is a work in progress Many variables at play

A: Threats to Born-digital records Format Obsolescence Media Failure Human neglect/disregard

Wikis Systems Google Docs Facebook/Twitter, etc. Local hard drives and networks The Cloud/Decontextualization

Lots of complex solutions to study (perceived complexity)

Scary OAIS Diagram

Plethora of Complex Project and Resources

Reality You don’t need to understand it all You don’t need to implement all of it at the same time You are already doing it for print materials Low-level parts of your computer already do much of the rest The parts they don’t do can be taken up by new services/software that is emerging

The Problem* The problem that needs to be addressed Digital data is an asset with long term value. Context needs to be preserved Deployment depends on software, hardware and people. Software, hardware and people change....therefore... Access is not guaranteed without (some) action Value, opportunity, impact not guaranteed * Thanks to William Kilbride for some information on this slide

Making the Argument 1 Relative cost is of digital preservation is low compared to preserving book, museum objects, archives, built environment

How much does a repository cost to setup and run Here’s two William Kibride prepared. Setup: Tens of thousands? Operating costs: 10 staff plus facilities Setup: Tens of millions? Operating costs: 450 staff plus facilities

Making the Argument 2 Society needs to do this—and is doing it—to a point – Internet Archive – Library of Congress/Twitter – Projects in Large research libraries

Making the Argument 3 Most services have no long-term legal commitment It is not sufficient to leave things in hands of ‘producers’ or ‘service providers’ Little up front planning for preservation Records without custodian at risk of loss Need for legal compliance

Making the Argument 4 Archivists Have: Conceptual Tools – Provenance – Preservation of Context Practical Method – Active, evolving custodianship for long-term – Expose for indexing Focus on rich documentary sources – Correspondence, minutes, reports

The ‘Clincher’ Archival expertise can enrich current systems of people and computers. With relatively small amount of resources, significant value can be added to any organization, in the form of managed and preserved electronic records. BUT, you must demonstrate it!

B: Mitigating the Threats Provide advice/assistance with current records Participate in records management activities Slowly build a program

Assistance within current record issues – Practical guidance documents – Desktop documents Web resources – Salvage operations (floppy drive museum) – ml ml Identify, decide, organize...

Provide Guidance for Current Records Issues – Records schedules MUST cover electronic materials – Help in planning/implementing new IT systems – Metadata

C: Planning A Digital Archives Program records.chrisprom.com/?page_id=508 records.chrisprom.com/?page_id=508 Key elements of process: – Gradual, incremental change – Emphasis on consensus building – Learn as you go

Proviso: Should also include an assessment of institutional readiness

2. Develop Electronic Records Program Statement records.chrisprom.com/ ?page_id=540 records.chrisprom.com/ ?page_id=540 Key points: – Customizable – Trust-building – Demonstrate basic competence – Sell your program Preamble Mandate Partners Documentary Scope Guiding Values/Commitme nts Pre-deposit services Acquisition Processing Management Access

3. Start Pilot Program Sell Program to Admin—no cost basis. Target a small number of individuals – Present them with vision of the program – Listen carefully Identify IT partners and candidate technologies Have a safe place to ‘park’ stuff temporarily

4: Submission Policy Framework Deposit Policy Transfer Guidelines Records Survey Form Submission Agreement Form What to keep How to organize Delivery

5: Begin to Implement a TDR Trusted Digital Repository eng/eng_index.html eng/eng_index.html

“Archival Information Packet” Lavoie, Brian. The Open Archival Information System Reference Model: Introductory Guide. DPC Technology Watch Report London: Digital Preservation Coalition, 2004.

DIY Repository Essentials (1) Use document-based survey forms and submission agreements Focus on ‘bit-presrevation’ and format monitoring Don’t migrate unless format is threatened Use whatever tools available for migration actions – Track actions at aggregate level in folder where actions are taken. – Original, processed, and logs folders.

DIY Repository Essentials (2) Zip files for storage Fixity information for entire AIP in top level folder (MD5 checksum) File Identification Use current catalog (such as Archon) to track descriptive information Unique ID links Archival Packet and catalog info. Storage via redundant local system or online backup

On networked file system Local File/App Associations Checksums: “Karen’s Directory Printer/Jacksu m FITS Metadata for files (chained) Record in current catalog system Zip file and its Preservation Description Information ID Linking Package ID Internal Rel’s: (keep original order) and External Relationships (described)

6. Develop Preservation Action Plans

Final Steps (work in progress) records.chrisprom.com/?page_id=581 records.chrisprom.com/?page_id= Develop processing, preservation, and storage workflows for submitted materials. 8. Implement the workflows using the Practical E-Records Workstation. 9. Develop an access system for resources ingested into your trustworthy storage environment (policies and technologies).

D: Select and Implement Tools and Services

Software Evaluation Criteria Installation/configuration/supported platforms (20) Functionality/Reliability (20) Usability (10) Scalability (10) Documentation (10) Interoperability/metadata support (10) Flexibility/customizability (10) License/Support/Sustainabilty/Community (10)

Some Very Useful Tools Karen’s Directory Printer DROID FITS: File Information Toolset Planets Testbed Imagemagick Open Office Xena Aid4Mail

Archivematica: proof of concept

Proposed Dashboard

Archivematica Advantages: – Can use alongside existing hardware/software for migration options, storage, etc. – Allows for easy extension (via package manager or apt-get) – Potentially allows for flexibility in decision making – Excellent Development Model/Community involvement on wiki Google groups – Web dashboard coming – Targeted to ‘small’ archives – Range of partners supporting it.

Concluding Discussion Sustaining the Program Your questions/thoughts/comments.

Identifying, Preserving and Providing Access to Born-Digital Records National Archives Conference for Fraternities and Sororities July 17, 2010 Urbana, Illinois Christopher J. Prom, PhD Assistant University Archivist and Associate Professor University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign