1. DIGITAL PRESERVATION PERSPECTIVES ARCHIVAL SCIENCE AND THE OPEN ARCHIVAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS MODEL Charles M. Dollar University of British Columbia cdollar@compuserve.com

2. BACKGROUND Authentic Electronic Records: Strategies for Long-Term Access –Chapter 1: Conceptual Foundations –Chapter2: Options and Alternative for Long- Term Access to Authentic Electronic Records –Chapter 3:Best Practices, Recmmendations, and Guidelines –Chapter 4: Act Agenda –Six appendices Publisher: Cohassets Associates, Sept. 1998

3. TOPICS TO BE DISCUSSED WHAT IS ARCHIVAL SCIENCE? APPLYING ARCHIVAL SCIENCE TO DIGITAL PRESERVATION ARCHIVAL SCIENCE AND THE OAIS

4. ARCHIVAL SCIENCE: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW No single source of archival science Experience of France - four phases –Description and preservation of deeds/charters –Arrangement and description - respect de fonds –Shift from academic history research –Information technologies

5. ARCHIVAL SCIENCE: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW North American perspectives Pragmatic tradition - reject “archival science” Two approaches to archival science

6. ARCHIVAL SCIENCE: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Theodore J. Schellenberg –Very influential –Two books –Informational value of records Sir Hilary Jenkinson –Very influential –Book –Records as evidence

7. ARCHIVAL SCIENCE: A HISTORICAL OVERVIEW Schellenberg model challenged Revival of interest in Jenkinson –Definition of record is very attractive –Diplomatics –Functional appraisal of records

8. ARCHIVAL SCIENCE TODAY “The concepts, principles, and methods governing the treatment of records. It includes the concepts, practices, and methods defined by diplomatics” - Luciana Duranti Creation, use, maintenance, selection for retention, and preservation of records as evidence

9. KEY DIPLOMATICS CONCEPTS Record Original Copy Reliability Authenticity

10. RECORD Media independence Completeness –Identification of the author –An act or intention to take a decision –A stable storage medium –Form - the constituent elements such as time and date of creation –Preserved

11. RECORD (2) recorded information created, received or maintained by an organization or a person in the transaction of business kept as evidence of this activity

12. ORIGINAL First in time Effective

13. COPY “Form of the original Imitative Simple

14. RELIABILITY Stand for facts “Authority and trustworthiness of records as proof and memory of their activity of which they constitute the natural by-product, that is, their ability to stand for the facts they are about” Terry Eastwood and Luciana Duranti

15. RELIABILITY (2) Information that can be depended upon By-product of routine actions Produced in accordance with standard procedures Linkage with like records Context of creation and use

16. AUTHENTICITY Retain reliability over time “Over time” –Transmission –Reproduction No change in content, context, or structure

17. ARCHIVAL SCIENCE AND DIGITAL PRESERVATION Ease of alteration or loss Fragility of storage media Technology obsolescence Ensure authentic electronic records over time

18. APPLYING ARCHIVAL SCIENCE TO DIGITAL PRESERVATION ARCHIVAL SCIENCE PRESERVATION DOMAIN LONG-TERM ACCESS STRATEY ROLE OF STANDARDS

19. ARCHIVAL SCIENCE PRESERVATION AND ACCESS DOMAIN Readable Records Intelligible Records Identifiable Records Retrievable Records Reconstructale Records Understandable Records

20. LONG-TERM ACCESS STRATEGY Maintaining Processable Electronic Records Migrating Processable Electronic Records

21. PROCESSABIITY Records can be read and correctly interpreted by current computer hardware/software and easily transferred to a new technology platform using an export/import software functionality.

22. REFORMAT Alteration in the underlying bit stream of records without any change in the structure, content, or context No special software is required

23. COPY Exact duplication of the bit stream underlying electronic records There is no change in the structure, content, or context General purpose software

24. CONVERT “Automatic” transfer of electronic records from one technology environment to another without the loss of structure, content, or context Underlying bit stream likely to change Source software application environment or new application environment

25. MIGRATION Transfer of electronic records that can only be read and correctly understood by using legacy hardware/software to a new technology platform. Typically, this involves the design of new gateways and writing special code.

26. MIGRATION STEPS Michael Brodie and Michael Stonebreaker, Migrating Legacy Systems: Gateways, Interfaces & the Incremental Approach (1995)

28. ROLE OF STANDARDS Non--proprietary standards with an established market place base The marketplace is the arbiter of standards that should be adopted Wary of the Universal Preservation Format

29. ARCHIVAL SCIENCE AND OAIS MODEL System perspective Long-term access Conceptual similarities –“Replicate” –“Repackage” –“Transmutation” “Recorded information”

30. COLLABORATION Explore archival definition of record vis-à- vis recorded information (database) Exploration of a “shared interest” in standards Separate discussion paper for workshop review