Applying Traditional Principles of Authenticity and Trust to Digital Archives at LSE

Sue Donnelly, ArchivistEllie Robinson, Digital ArchivistEd Fay, Digital Library Manager

Trust: applying traditional principles of authenticity and trust

to digital archives at LSE Library

What is Trust?

Trust in the past

Trust in a digital world

Royal Economic Society

• Founded 1889

• Began depositing at LSE in 1979

• Moved to digital submission of journal articles in c.2007

Press for Change

• Founded 1992

• Worked with government on legislation:o Gender Recognition Act 2004o Equality Act 2010

• Deposited archive in 2012o arrived on 4gb memory stick

A Day in the Life of a USB Stick

What we do and how we stay authentic

Accessioning part 1: intellectual

Accessioning part 2: physical

Write-blocking

The USB stickMains power source

USB 2.0 connection to PC

Virus checking

Imaging

Imaging

Profiling

Normalising

*.wpd Xena *.odt

Metadata

• Technical, preservation, descriptive• Some automated, some not• Multi-purpose – to support preservation in

the long term but also to track ownership, rights.

Metadata example

Trustworthy Digital Repository

Trustworthy Digital Repository Elephant

“Digital preservation is

the elephant in the room...”

“...eat it one bite at a time.”

Eating the Trustworthy Digital Elephant

Phased development of technical infrastructure, staff skills

LSE Digital Library

Making the case: articulating value• Benefits and risks

o Strategic alignment• Evidence base

oWe understand our problemsoWe can propose achievable solutions

• Context and terminologyo Key messages, but for whom?

• Importance of internal stakeholders

Making the case: articulating value• Terminology

o Persistent accesso Long-term availabilityo Digital continuity/stewardshipo Indefinite retentiono Protection of investmento Legal complianceo Competition, reputation, embarrassment

Insufficient backups

Making the case: risk register

Loss of trust or

reputation

Activity overlooked or under

resourced

Media degradation

or obsolescenc

e Loss of essential

characteristics

Infrastructure cannot support

requirements

Failure of authenticity,

integrity, provenance

Inadequate staff skills

Cannot implement

preservation plans

The Iceberg Model of Digital Libraries

interfaces

collections/objects

workflows

systems

storage

digital preservation

Roles and responsibilities• Innovation vs service development

o Core skills and focuso Embedding operational capacity

• Communicationo Bi-lateral (archivists/techies)o Confident in requirementso Long process of engagemento Interesting IT challenges

Roles and responsibilities

Archive Services Collection developmentDescriptionPreservation

Digital Library TeamPolicySkills / expertiseInnovation / projects

Academic ServicesCollection developmentInformation skills training

Collection ServicesPreservationDescriptionInfrastructure

Senior Management• Strategy• Resources

Archive Services • Collection development• Description• Preservation

Digital Library Team• Policy• Skills / expertise• Innovation / projects

Academic Services• Collection development• Information skills training

Collection Services• Preservation• Description• Infrastructure

Trust and collaboration• Comparator analysis (vs conformance)

• ‘Prioritising’ OAIS/TRACo Know what is most important for youoMove in the right directiono ‘Better’ rather than ‘best’ practice

• Shared infrastructure or services (?)

Trustable Digital Repository

“The trustworthy digital

repository is the elephant

in the room...”

“...approach with caution.”

Trustable Digital Repository• Sufficient investment

o Necessary skills/time/infrastructureo Key drivers: provenance, authenticityo Plan to scale, don’t plan to do it all now

• ‘Better’ rather than ‘best’ practiceo Continuous improvemento Aiming towards maturity of practiceo Not trying to get there in one goo This will take years...

SPRUCEa project to inspire, guide, support and enable UK HEIs to

address preservation gaps; and to use the knowledge gathered from that support work to articulate a compelling business case for digital preservation

• Events: digital preservation solutions• Embedding: grants to continue work• Business case: benefits, skills gaps

http://dpconline.org/advocacy/spruce

Conclusions

• Trust isn’t a new issuebut the lack of standards is

• Need to learn by practicegetting hands on with the materials

• Keep talking develop engagement and ways of communicating requirements

“I [trust] LSE [Digital] Library”

Trust is slow to earn...

...and quick to burn

Useful linksOut of the Box (LSE Archives blog)http://lib-1.lse.ac.uk/archivesblog/?tag=digital-archives

Sustainable Preservation Using Community Engagementhttp://dpconline.org/advocacy/spruce

You've Got to Walk Before You Can Run: First Steps for Managing Born-Digital Content Received on Physical Media (OCLC)

http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2012/2012-06r.html