The Fundamentals of Preserving Knowledge Assets

Pacific Neighborhood Consortium 2010Catherine Quinlan, Dean of the USC Libraries

USC's Dual Approach

The University of Southern California

Preserving knowledge assets

Defining the academic knowledge asset

Digital collections

Physical collections

Next steps

Outline

The University of Southern California

Faculty: 3,200

Staff: 10,800

Global alumni: 233,000

Endowment: $2.7 billion

Sponsored research: $560.9 million

U.S. News and World Report academic ranking: 23rd in the U.S.

Students Undergraduates: 17,500 Graduate and professional: 19,500 24% of 2010 applicants accepted; middle 50% SAT

range: 1950-2170

Top North American university for international students 7,987 enrolled 70% in graduate-level programs, most in

engineering From 110 countries; most from India and China

The University of Southern California

Global offices China Hong Kong Japan Korea Mexico Taiwan

International academic programs http://globalization.usc.edu/programs/map/

The University of Southern California

The USC Libraries 23 libraries and information

centers, including health sciences

240 library faculty and staff

4.2 million volumes

E-resources—92,812 journals and 1,270 research databases

Defining the Academic Knowledge Asset

Content Research value

Curricular relevance

Pre-publication research and data—additional mining and remixing

Institutional needs University archives

Business records

Collections outside the libraries

Defining the Academic Knowledge Asset

Format agnostic

Printed materials

Born-digital works

Multimedia

Large data sets

Physical artifacts with cultural or historical value

1. Use existing infrastructure to develop additional

capacity for digital collections USC Libraries imaging, cataloging, and metadata

expertise

USC Shoah Foundation Institute preservation and

presentation systems

ITS high-performance network and computing facilities

2. Provide a high-quality physical preservation

environment

USC’s Dual Approach

A partnership among the USC Libraries, USC Information Technology Services, and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute

An infrastructure that provides access to digitized or born-digital collections:

Enable access any time, anywhere

Encourage research in the digital environment

Generate revenue by extending services to private-sector clients

USC super-computer—5th fastest in the world—and high-performance network provide access services

1. The USC Digital Repository

Digitization—Leverage mass digitization systems and USC Digital Library imaging systems

Cataloging—Use the Shoah Foundation indexing system, plus additional metadata resources from the Digital Library

Digital preservation—Expansion of the current 8-petabyte system

Digital Library access—Leverage high-performance computing systems and networks to distribute content

File-server services for large assets—Provide easy access to all preserved materials through derivatives and alternate file formats

Digital Repository Core Functions

Digitization—no matter how advanced—does not equal preservation Reliability and degradation of physical storage media

The newer the medium, the faster it fails

Migration challenges and expense

Bit flipping

Digital obsolescence and preservation of means to read media

Intellectual value of the object—in some cases the form is the content

Digital Challenges and Risks

Archival-quality environmental control—books printed on

acid paper last 40 years longer

Faster service—the ASRS delivers materials within 5

minutes of a request

Efficiency—the ASRS stores materials in 1/12 the space of

conventional shelving

Enhance and encourage discovery

Revenue generation from campus and private-sector clients

2. Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRS)

Print Materials

Special Collections

MultimediaMaterials

Physical Artifacts

Born-Digital Materials

Digital Repository

Automated Storage

and Retrieval System

Users and Researchers around the

World

Integrated Library System

High-Performance Network

USC’s Dual Approach to Digital Servicesand Physical Collections

ASRS

Completed feasibility study

Secure provostial approval

Raise funds for U.S. $50 million construction

Determine location for 800,000 cubic-foot facility

Digital Repository

Funded start-up phase for U.S. $200,000

Identifying initial partners and clients

USC units

Film industry (e.g. Paramount Studios)

Next Steps

USC Libraries www.usc.edu/libraries

Shoah Foundation Institute college.usc.edu/vhi/

Additional Information