DIGITAL CURATION IN CONTEXT
Assistant Professor ▪ School of Information Studies
DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY ▪ 10 OCTOBER 2012 ▪ HALIFAX, NS
a little about me
history personal
OCLC 2004-2005
OCLC RESEARCH
- SENSE-MAKING THE INFORMATION CONFLUENCE
- MOVING FROM PRINT TO HYBRID JOURNAL
SUBSCRIPTIONS
MCGILL 2010-present
SCHOOL OF INFORMATION STUDIES - TEACHING
- RESEARCH ETHICS BOARD II
- ARCHIVAL STUDIES STREAM
UNC - CAROLINA DIGITAL REPOSITORY
- DIGCCURR I (DIGITAL CURATION CURRICULUM)
- DIGCCURR II (PROFESSIONAL TRAINING)
2005-present
AT CHAPEL HILL
- DIGITAL CURATION/INSTITUTIONAL REPOSITORY
- HUMAN INFORMATION INTERACTION
- DIGITAL PRESERVATION, ACCESS & CURATION
- PI: (1) FACEBOOK & (2) BLOGS
- CONSULTANT, BLOGFOREVER.EU
disambiguation
WHAT IS DIGITAL CURATION
Image Credit: Tim Gough, New York Times, October 2, 2009 (All Rights Reserved).
Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/04/fashion/04curate.html
“ … the word archive has lost much of its traditional meaning and associations … archivists have literally lost control over the definition of archive.” (Hedstrom, 1991, p. 336) “…despite the recent appropriation of „archive‟ as a verb to mean „store‟ or „to preserve,‟ the traditional meaning of archives as a noun is narrower.” (CLIR, 2001, p. 85) “Traditionally, preservation and archiving have had two distinct definitions with preservation being a necessary component of, but not equivalent to, the totality of archiving.” (Tibbo, 2003, p. 11)
CURATE IS NOT ALONE
DIGITAL CURATION
DIGITAL PRESERVATION
Also, be aware of digital stewardship,
digital archiving, and data curation too …
OUTCOMES AND GOALS
YOU CANNOT “PRESERVE” IT IF YOU CANNOT …
1 GET IT
2
3
4
6
7
9
DESCRIBE IT
INTERPRET IT
SECURE IT
AUTHENTICATE IT
ACCESS IT
PERFORM IT
DIGITAL PRESERVATION (ALA) - Short/Medium
SHORT: “Digital preservation combines policies, strategies and actions that ensure access to digital content over time.”
MEDIUM: “… reformatted and born digital content regardless of the challenges of media failure and technological change. The goal of digital preservation is the accurate rendering of authenticated content
over time.”
LONG: Really long … breaks down digital preservation strategies and actions into three main areas: 1) content creation, 2) content integrity and content maintenance.
DEFINITIONS
SOURCE: http://www.ala.org/ala/alcts/newslinks/digipres/index.cfm
Digital curation, broadly interpreted, is about
maintaining and adding value to a trusted body of
digital information for current and future use.
The active management and preservation of digital
resources over the life-cycle of scholarly and scientific
interest, and over time for current and future
generations of users.
“What Is Digital Curation?”http://www.dcc.ac.uk/about/what/
DEFINITIONS DIGITAL CURATION (DCC)
– Creating durable digital objects
– Appraisal and selection
– Hardware and software obsolescence
– File formats
– Rights management and other legal and ethical issues
– Metadata (minimum/optimal/practical)
– Quality control and “trustworthiness”
– Commitment to the long-term
– Resource allocation, costing, and staffing
– Funding for development and sustainability
WHY THESE MATTER
A SAMPLE OF SELECT ISSUES
SOURCE: http://www.happyplace.com/10720/utterly-insane-job-opportunities-on-craigslist/page/1
WHY THESE MATTER
WHY THESE MATTER
… because it might be
something you are expected
to do in your professional life
(and that you might want to
do, in your personal lives).
• Applications Programmer
• Archivist
• Archival Engineer
• Archivist/Reference Librarian
• Assistant Archivist
SOURCE: Tibbo, Hank & Lee (2008)
A
WHY THESE MATTER
• Cataloger
• Content Management Analyst
C
sample of job titles doing “digital curation”
• Digital Archivist (2)
• Digital Collections Research Asst.
• Digital Imaging Librarian
• Digital Library Program Assistant
• Digital Preservation Researcher
• Digital Preservation Specialist (2)
• Digital Preservation System Admin.
• Digital Projects Librarian
• Digital Services Librarian
• Digital Technologies Manager
• Digitization Assistant
D
SAMPLE TITLES
• Research Programmer (2)
• Research Data Specialist
R
SAMPLE TITLES
• Electronic Records Manager
• Head of Preservation
• Information Technology Specialist
• Multimedia and Metadata Librarian
• Project Archivist for Special Collections
• Senior Advisor, Electronic Records
• Technical Manager (2)
ETC.
digital curation in context
repository digital
Disclaimer
ME
ME
ME
O’Meara, E., & Tuomala, M. (2012).
Finding balance between archival
principles and real-life practices in
an institutional repository.
Archivaria, Spring 2012(73).
JUST PUBLISHED
Archivaria article 2012
2010 Carolina Digital Repository - “soft launch”
2009 Author’s experience with project began
THEIR PERSPECTIVE
2011 Curator’s Workbench debuts
Archivaria article 2012
2010 Carolina Digital Repository - “soft launch”
2009 Author’s experience with project began
2011 Curator’s Workbench debuts
2007
2005
2003
2004
Systems & Service Coordination Council Report
Minds of Carolina (Tibbo and Jones)
Digital Assets Assessment Team Report
Scholarly Communications in a Digital World
Digital Curation/Institutional Repository
Committee (DC/IRC) formed
Carolina Digital Library and Archives formed
My experience with project ended
MY PERSPECTIVE AND SOME REPOSITORY HISTORY
charge to the
DC/ICR
Develop a feasible plan
to serve Carolina's
curation needs and
place us in the forefront
of such efforts locally,
nationally, and
internationally.
charge
Design a pilot IR and
digital preservation
program in partnership
with ITS, the University
Library, and SILS that will
support ongoing
research.
charge
Develop policies,
procedures, and long-
term digital preservation
strategies to benefit the
entire campus, including
strategies to educate
the campus community.
charge
No centralized or federated
system for identifying,
acquiring, describing and
storing the digital assets
produced and/or maintained
by the Carolina community …
WHY?
… the University‟s unique
scholarship is at risk of being
“lost,” at one end of
a continuum, to simply
undiscoverable at the
other.
Since the University invests in
the manufacture of
these intellectual and
institutional digital assets …
… then it would only follow
that the University invest
in strategies and mechanisms
to ensure these
unique, rich digital assets are
safe, durable, and useable,
into the future.
anatomy
of an IR
planning
project
anatomy
of an IR
planning
project
1965
anatomy
of an IR
planning
project
2005-
2009
POLICY CRAMP
FUNDS REQUIRED
CONTENT
MANAGEMENT
STAFFING
ENGAGEMENT
SERVICES &
FEATURES
SYSTEMS
• … a university-based IR is a set of services
that a university offers to the members of its
community for the management and
dissemination of digital materials created by
the institution and its community members.
• … most essentially an organizational
commitment to the stewardship of these
digital materials, including long-term
preservation where appropriate, as well as
organization and access or distribution.
Source: Lynch (2002)
LYNCH ON IRs
• While operational responsibility for these
services may reasonably be situated in
different organizational units at different
universities, an effective IR of necessity
represents a collaboration among librarians,
information technologists, archives and
records managers, faculty, and university
administrators and policymakers.
LYNCH ON IRs (cont.)
Source: Lynch (2002)
• At any given point in time, an IR will be
supported by a set of information
technologies, but a key part of the services
that comprise an IR is the management of
technological changes, and the migration of
digital content from one set of technologies
to the next as part of the organizational
commitment to providing repository services.
• An IR is not simply a fixed set of software and
hardware.
LYNCH ON IRs (cont.)
Source: Lynch (2002)
• Initially a two-year term (2005-2007)
• September 16, 2005: 1st DC/IRC meeting
• 23 meetings in total over 2 year initial
appointment
• Extended to 3-year term (thru 2008)
• Advisory role with introduction of CDLA
DC/IRC OPERATIONS DC/IRC OPERATIONS
• University Library, inc.:
– Library Systems
– University Archives
– DocSouth
• Health Sciences
Library
• School of Information
and Library Science
(SILS)
• Renaissance
Computing Institute
(RENCI)
• Information Technology
Services (ITS)
• The Odum Institute
• Ibiblio.org
• UNC Press
• Kenan-Flagler School of
Business
• Department of Romance
Languages
• Department of
Anthropology
• Department of Art
13 to 27 members
DC/IRC MEMBERSHIP
WORKING GROUPS
INITIALLY INFORMED BY:
1) RLG/NARA (2005): Taskforce on Digital Repository Certification, Audit Checklist for Certifying Digital Repositories: Draft for Public Comment.
THEN RESTRUCTURED IN CONSIDERATION OF:
2) DRAMBORA (2007): Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment.
3) OCLC, CRL, and NARA (2007): Trusted Repositories Audit and Certification: Criteria and Checklist.
WORKING GROUPS
5+1
restructured to 4
1) Governance and Policy (GP)
2) Guidance, Engagement and Training (GET)
3) Communities and Digital Assets Management (CDAM)
4) Technical Planning Infrastructure Group (TPIG)
WORKING GROUPS
KEY ACTIVITIES
1 state of the art literature review on IR deployment
2 months planning TRLN IR Forum
3 expert speaker talks hosted
4 working groups formed
6 semi-structured needs assessment interviews completed
7 IR policies drafted and vetted
9 months installing/configuring/testing IR beta
10 presentations at local/national conferences
11 repository applications reviewed
18 deposit and use case scenarios drafted and vetted
23 meetings held (2005-2007)
66 page IR ingest survey devised and tested
KEY ACTIVITIES
management
policies services
collaboration
technologies engagement
content
CONTINUED FOCUS ON …
1) Dedicated staffing, particularly programming
2) Open, flexible and extensible technologies
3) Informed, timely engagement
4) Structured, strategic content recruitment
5) Partnership, collaboration and relationship
building
6) Top-down and grassroots promotion
SPECIFICALLY …
but first, what about doing …
staffing?
SO, WHO (OR WHAT) IS
A DIGITAL CURATOR
“Traditionally, curators are responsible for acquiring material for a collection, preserving these materials for future generations, helping users locate items from the collection and providing contextual information so they can better understand them, and designing exhibits for the benefit and enjoyment of the public.”
“What is a Digital Curator?”
Doug Reside, Digital Curator of Performing Arts,
Library for the Performing Arts April 4, 2011. http://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/04/04/what-digital-curator
“As digital curator, I will do most of these things as well, but I have specifically made it my mission to:
1) make as much of our collection available online as copyright law, professional ethics, and our budget permits 2) provide both contextual information and software tools to make our digital collections as useful as possible 3) improve methods for preserving and providing access to the "born digital" materials (word processor files, digital musical scores, 3d set designs, etc.) that are now part of the creative history of most contemporary works of art”
“What is a Digital Curator?”
Doug Reside, Digital Curator of Performing Arts,
Library for the Performing Arts April 4, 2011. http://www.nypl.org/blog/2011/04/04/what-digital-curator
SOURCE: SHERPA
JOB POSTINGS ANALYSIS
206 LISTINGS (2006-12) RESEARCH DATA & DIGITAL CURATION OFFICER DSpace@Cambridge
CURATION SERVICES OFFICER
Digital curation Centre, U of Edinburgh
NOT A COMMON TITLE
• Develop and implement policies
• Analyze digital content to determine what services can be provided from it
• Provide advice to producers and consumers
• Support ingest of deposits to a repository
• Enable use and reuse
• Enable discovery and retrieval
• Develop and implement preservation planning
• Promote interoperability
SOURCE: Harvey (2010)
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCIES
To do digital curation is to …
• 24 high-level functional categories across six activity areas:
– Technical infrastructure
– Information resource treatment
– Metadata treatment
– Human interaction
– Strategies, prioritization, and judgments
– Administration
Source: Lee (2009). Matrix of Digital
Curation Knowledge and Competencies
DC FUNCTIONS & SKILLS
WHAT ABOUT
IF LESS THAN
1 FTE?
7.2 STAFF
Markey et al. (2007) Matthies (2011)
A DEPT. OF ONE? staffing institutional repositories
TECHNICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE
ADMINISTRATIVE
ACTIVITIES
TREATMENT OF
INFORMATION
RESOURCES
TREATMENT OF
METADATA
STRATEGIES,
PRIORITIES &
JUDGMENTS
HUMAN
INTERACTIONS
TECHNOLOGIST I (System Administrator &
Principle Programmer)
TECHNOLOGIST II (Metadata Technologist &
User Support Specialist) PROJECT
MANAGER
DC/IRC STAFFING PLAN
HOW DO WE ENGAGE OUR STAKEHOLDERS CONTENT PRODUCERS, CO-PRODUCERS & MANAGERS,
CONSUMERS & DESIGNATED COMMUNITIES,
FUNDERS AND ADMINISTRATORS …
AND OURSELVES?
A digital repository can be many things to many people,
depending on 1) _____________; 2) ____________; and
3) __________. A digital repository is ________ ____________.
It does ___________; ___________; and ___________.
A digital repository contains __________ and __________.
MAD LIBS
DIGITAL REPOSITORIES
(PERSON)
(DIGITAL ASSET)
(PLACE)
(ADVERB)
(ADJECTIVE)
(VERB)
(VERB)
(VERB)
(NOUN)
(NOUN)
Image Credit: Vin Hank, age 7.
Image Credit: Patrick Donovan (15 Apr 2010) http://www.flickr.com/photos/21843970@N00/4529711937/
sell digital
curation in
seconds
or less
30 Image Credit: James Malone (29 May 2009)
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesmalone/3579227077/
SOURCE: http://www.digcur-education.org/eng/Resources/CURATE-Game
CURATE:
The Digital
Curator Game
just a plug …
SOURCES SOURCES Council on Library and Information Resources. (2001). The evidence in hand: Report of
the Task Force on the Artifact in Library Collections. (CLIR Publication No. 103).
Washington, DC: Author. http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub103/contents.html
Caplan, P. (2008). The preservation of digital materials." Library Technology Reports, 44
(2).https://publications.techsource.ala.org/products/archive.pl?article=2614
Digital Curation Centre and DigitalPreservationEurope. (2007). Digital Repository Audit
Method Based on Risk Assessment, V. 1.0. http://www.repositoryaudit.eu/
Hank, C. (2008). A Progress and recommendations report from the Digital
Curation/Institutional Repository Committee, 2005-07: Informing a successful institutional
repository deployment at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (195 pp.). Chapel
Hill, NC: University Libraries.
Harvey, R. (2010). Digital curation: A how-to-do-it manual (#170). New York: Neal-Schuman.
Hedstrom, M. (1991). Understanding electronic incunabula: A framework for research on electronic records. American Archivist, 54(3), 334-354.
Lee, C.A. (2009, June 17). Matrix of digital curation knowledge and competencies (overview), version 13. http://www.ils.unc.edu/digccurr/digccurr-matrix.html
Center for Research Libraries and OCLC Online Computer Library Center. (2007).
Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification: Criteria and Checklist, V. 1.0.
http://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/pages/trac_0.pdf
SOURCES SOURCES
Markey, K., Rieh, S.Y., St. Jean, B., Kim, J., & and Yakel, E. (2007). “Chapter Two: The
Institutions and the People Involved with IRs.” In Census of institutional repositories in the
United States: MIRACLE project research findings. Washington DC: CLIR.
Matthies, B. (2011). "Staffing the Repository: How to Build Your Team and Use it Effectively"
Research on Institutional Repositories: Articles and Presentations. Paper 26.
http://digitalcommons.bepress.com/repository-research/26
OCLC. (2003 ).Environmental Scan: A Report to the OCLC Membership.
http://www.oclc.org/reports/escan/appendices/collectiongrid.htm
SHERPA (UK): SHERPA maintains listings of jobs in areas related to digital curation, including
digital repositories, scholarly communication and open access. For previously advertised
posts, see: http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/jobs/old-jobs.htm; for “current posts, see
http://www.sherpa.ac.uk/jobs/index.html.
Tibbo, H.R. (2003). On the nature and importance of archiving in the digital age. In M.
Zelkowitz (Ed.), Advances in Computers: Information Repositories, 57 (pp. 1-67). San Diego,
CA: Elsevier.
Tibbo, H.R., Hank, C., & Lee, C.A. (2008). Challenges, curricula, and competencies:
Researcher and practitioner perspectives for informing the development of a digital
curation curriculum. In Archiving 2008: Final Program and Proceedings (pp. 234-238).
Springfield, VA: Society for Imaging Science and Technology.
Lynch, C. (2002) Institutional Repositories: Essential Infrastructure for Scholarship in the
Digital Age. ARL Bimonthly Report 226. http://www.arl.org/resources/pubs/br/br226/
/br226ir.shtml
THANK YOU
CAROLYN HANK Email: [email protected]
Phone: (001)514.398.4684
Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/carolynhank/
Slideshow:
QUESTIONS?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT … DIGITAL CURATION PROFESSIONAL INSTITUTE, an
initiative of (www.ils.unc.edu/digccurr/)
Also, check out Curator’s Workbench @
https://github.com/UNC-Libraries/Curators-Workbench
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