OCLC Western Service Center Practical Digital Data Curation Gayle Palmer, Digital & Preservation Services Manager OCLC Western Service Center January 2006

OCLC Western Service Center Definition: Data Curation “Digital curation, broadly interpreted, is about maintaining and adding value to, a trusted body of digital information for current and future use.” [Digital Curation Center (DCC) United Kingdom, approach to digital curation] (definition taken from Lorcan Dempsey’s blog) search.cgi?IncludeBlogs=1&search=data+curation

OCLC Western Service Center Definition: Data Curation “Data’s future quality –richness, trustworthiness– is a function of investment in it.” [Philip Lord, et. al. “From Data Deluge to Data Curation;” JISC Joint Committee for the Support of Research, DCC approach to digital curation.]

OCLC Western Service Center Digital Program Data  Frequently talk about metadata standards  Technical infrastructure standards  Documentation of all relevant data

OCLC Western Service Center Which data sources are important?  Standards adopted & documented  Policies, regulations in effect  Best Practices adopted & documented  Metadata of all types  Technical infrastructure documentation

OCLC Western Service Center Which data sources are important?  Legal documentation  Intellectual property assets  Risk management policies  Evaluation & assessment metrics  Budget & financial data  User data

OCLC Western Service Center Standards vs implementation Implementation workflow—  Adoption of standards  Adoption of best practices models  Implementation within institutional policy framework  Consistency through a local style guide  Documentation of decisions and change management

OCLC Western Service Center Collection data sources In Metadata--  Administrative  Rights  Descriptive  Structural  Technical  Preservation

OCLC Western Service Center IT Data Sources In information technology—  Computers and the physical hardware used to interconnect them with their users users.  Transmission media, (telephone lines, cable television lines, and satellites and antennas)  also routers and other devices that control transmission paths.  Software used to send, receive, and manage the signals that are transmitted.  Everything that supports the flow and processing of information.

OCLC Western Service Center Long-term program policy and procedures  Technology and tools will constantly change  Policies, procedures consistently applied  Preservation depends on program management  Procedures for digital program should be reviewed, updated, vetted and documented regularly  Best practices will be achieve through constant testing and review  Data gathering and documentation are the best defense.

OCLC Western Service Center Data curation awareness  Recognition of need  Education & training  Start early, revise often  Aggregation of policies, protocols, standards  Communication of responsibility