Natalie Harrower (DRI): Digital Preservation in the Humanities and Social Sciences

Digital Preservation &

Humanities &

Social SciencesHarry Clarke Symposium 2015.02.06

Dr. Natalie Harrower

Manager of Education &Outreach

@natalieharrower

Digital Repository of Ireland & HSS data

What’s interesting about digital collections?

Why do we need digital repositories?

What is the Digital Repository of Ireland?

DRI is an interactive, national trusted digital

repository for contemporary and historical, social

and cultural data held by Irish institutions.

• images, sound,

audio/video, text...

• visual art, broadcast

footage, oral history

recordings, business

records, letters…

RIA (lead), NUIM, TCD, DIT, NUIG, NCAD

Core Grant: HEA PRTLI 5, €5.2M

Started Sep 2011

Public Launch at DPASSH: June 25, 2015

Funded Partnerships: diversified funding to 2019

Who are we? How are we funded?

Digital Preservation

Data Discovery

Access & Curation

Narratives, Visualisation

How do we do it?

Robust TDR Infrastructure

Policy and Advocacy

Education and Outreach

Projects and Partnerships

What do we do?

Digital Repository of Ireland & HSS data

What’s interesting about digital collections?

Why do we need digital repositories?

COLLECTING

BODY OF OBJECTS

MATERIAL DIGITAL

010010100101000100100101

001001010101001000111011

010101110101010101001001

010100101000010101001010

100101000100010101110110

101101001001001010010101

010101010001010101010101

010101001010101010101010

101010101010001001010101

010101010010101010101010

1010101001011

Walter BenjaminThe Work of Art in the Age of

Mechanical Reproduction

• Art has always been reproducible

• But: Mechanical means accelerates pace & possibilities

• Lacks the “aura” of the original

• But mechanical reproduction can also provide new things:

• Naked Eye ++

• Mobility and Access

(1936)

Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is

lacking in one element: its presence in time and space, its

unique existence at the place where it happens to be.

The Work of Art in the Age of

Digital Reproduction

The Work of Art in the Age of

Digital Reproduction

The Work of Art in the Age of

Digital Reproduction

The Work of Art in the Age of

Digital Reproduction

• Put of copy of the original into places that would be out of

reach of the original itself:

• Rijksmuseum – 130,000

• Metropolitan Museum of Art – 400,000

• More of a collection on display

• Enhance visitor experience through interactive exhibits

• Allow visitors to explore on their own terms

• Cooper-Hewitt Nat’l Design Museum – digital stylus

Visits to GLAMs increasing

Digital Repository of Ireland & HSS data

What’s interesting about digital collections?

Why do we need digital repositories?

Short Answer:

Sustained

Trusted

Preservation

Access

What is Digital Preservation?

Backing up your files?

“Active management of digital content over time

to ensure its ongoing access”

What is Digital Preservation?

Backing up your files?

“Active management of digital content over time

to ensure its ongoing access”

Plan

Trusted Digital Repository

Ongoing Access

User Tools

Interacting with art…

Collaborative Project between DRI, Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht (Minister Jimmy Deenihan), and the following NCIs:

• National Gallery of Ireland

• National Archives of Ireland

• National Library of Ireland

• National Museum of Ireland

• Irish Museum of Modern Art

• Abbey Theatre

• Crawford Gallery Cork

• Chester Beatty Library

• Online portal to Ireland’s Digital Cultural Assets (GLAMs)

• Built on DRI’s preservation infrastructure

• Community building

• Curated with an eye to national and international interest/visibility

• Speaks to ideas of Ireland as a rich culture with a compelling and rich history

• Important service for Ireland socially and culturally

• Part of a systematic approach to digital preservation, discovery & access

The Videohttps://vimeo.com/89125000

Thanks!________

[email protected]

dri.ie

@dri_ireland

inspiring-ireland.ie

dpassh.dri.ie