Preserving legacy information and making a plan for the future 10 December 2010
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Preserving legacy information and making a plan for the future
10 December 2010
What is preservation of digital evidence?
Active management of digital information to ensure that it remains accessibleAccessibility could be for records management, or to provide evidence in courtPreservation = good corporate governance
What are the issues?
Electronic records are made up of different digital objects = technical challenges for preservationThe role of different software programs for identifying the characteristics of those different digital objects that make up electronic recordsDifferent types of preservation, including refreshing data, emulating data and migration of data
How do you preserve electronic evidence?
EmulationRefreshmentMigration
Emulation
What is it?
Replicating functionality of an obsolete system
Software emulation
OS emulation
Hardware emulation
Emulation
AdvantagesAccess to original record as it would have appeared in original environment
DisadvantagesTemporary solution Technical dependency on emulator itselfRisk of loss of information during emulation
Refreshment
What is it? Transfer of data between two types of the same storage medium so there are no bit/byte changes or alteration of data
Refreshment
Examples: Moving data from floppy discs to CDs/ DVDs
Refreshment
Advantages:In case of emergency, multiple copies of data are available Disadvantages:Temporary strategy - offers only short term benefits
Migration
What is it? Transfer of data to new system environment
Key steps in data migration
Types of data migration
NormalisationMigrating data from original software to an ‘open source’ format so that it can be used without having to rely on the original software
‘Just in time’ migrationData is migrated when they are about to become inaccessible
Migration on demandData is migrated when a user needs access to a particular file
Migration
AdvantagesLong term value
DisadvantagesData may change and therefore integrity of data is compromisedVery difficult to get a precise match between source and targetMay lose information and functionality
Alternative?
If you are unsure about adopting a formal preservation program it is still important to take steps to protect authenticity of electronic record such as:
Establishing security and access controlsEnsuring the integrity of the recordManaging metadataManaging storage mediaManaging the content of digital objectsPlanning for emergencies
Questions to ask in preparation for data preservation process and for future access to data
What does your collection contain? What file formats does it contain?What storage media is currently used?What do you need to keep? (What is the current document retention policy?)What software will be used to store the data? (considering emulation, refreshment or migration)What storage media will be used? (considering emulation, refreshment or migration)Security considerationsCopyright permissions should be considered and sought if necessary
Preparing a long term plan
Do you have a document retention policy?No: need to prepare oneYes: does it include data migration?
Do you have a document management system?No: do you have systems in place for archiving?Yes: do you have a data migration plan in place?
Do you have procedures for staff to follow when storing digital information?
No: work out how to store “project” filesYes: are all files stored in such a way to allow for easy migration?
Q&A
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