Digital Archiving—Early Priorities
In March 1997 we charged an RLG Preservation Working
Group on Digital Archiving to recommend areas of action for RLG to
pursue, either alone or in partnership. Their selection was to be based
on the work done in Preserving Digital Information
(the 1996 final report of RLG- and CPA-appointed Task Force on
Archiving of Digital Information) plus their assessment of work plans
established by similar groups in the United Kingdom and Australia. With
community advice, these experts from our preservation and archives
communities made their recommendations for initial action in January
1998:
- Identify and analyze the digital archiving
needs of RLG member institutions.
- Examine and evaluate existing models for managing
digital
archiving facilities to determine models that can be adopted by member
institutions and implemented by RLG to meet the needs of members.
- Develop guidelines for appraisal, selection, and
priority
setting for preserving information in digital form.
This group provided notes useful both immediately and in
future—as a benchmark for progress made and a record of the
historical landscape.
Background
In 1994-96 RLG and the Commission on Preservation and Access jointly
supported a task force to produce a set of recommendations for ensuring
the long-term preservation of digital information. That task force
distributed a draft report widely in 1995, and groups in the United
Kingdom, Australia, and elsewhere met to review and assess its
relevance outside of North America. The task force received comments
from a variety of sources, including direct responses from key staff in
RLG's preservation community. These were taken in to account in the
1996 final report, Preserving Digital Information.
This report heavily influenced the RLG PRESERV strategic
plan. Organizations in the UK and Australia also conducted formal
reviews of the task force's recommendations and established programs of
work to move the digital archiving agenda forward as part of their
national preservation effort.
Working group
We appointed the RLG Preservation Working Group on Digital Archiving to
help determine, in light of these programs, which aspects of the
RLG-CPA-sponsored work should be our first priority:
Sherry Byrne, Chair
University of Chicago
Robin Dale
RLG
Nancy Elkington
RLG
Margaret Hedstrom
University of Michigan
Peter Hirtle
Cornell University
Jan Lyall
National Library of Australia
Vanessa Marshall
National Preservation Office (UK-Ireland)
Barclay Ogden
University of California, Berkeley
Anne Van Camp
RLG
Charge
- Read and analyze the RLG-CPA report
Preserving Digital Information with specific attention to the
recommendations for further action.
- Review the work plans of preservation studies
("Preservation
of Digital Materials: Policy and Strategy Issues for the UK" and
"Long-Term Preservation of Electronic Materials: a Programme of Studies
funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee of the Higher
Education Funding Councils") of the National Preservation Office
(UK-Ireland) and the Joint Information Systems Committee.
- Review the National Library of Australia work on its
digital
archiving assertions and intentions.
- Identify and review the work of other relevant bodies
worldwide that had issued formal programmatic responses to the RLG-CPA
report.
- Summarize findings and recommend follow-on activities
for
RLG to pursue, including (but not limited to) consortial projects and
initiatives as well as joint efforts with other organizations.
Outcomes
Sherry Byrne presented a progress report at the May 1997 RLG annual
members' meeting. The progress report identified six potential areas
where
an RLG role would be useful to move forward the international digital
archiving agenda. Notes under each area suggested possible ways work
might be undertaken. It was distributed throughout the membership for
input and guidance. The working group incorporated many of the comments
into their final report, which recommended that RLG
give priority and immediate attention to three critical areas and
proposed specific actions to be taken.
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