Seeing the Forest for the Trees: A look outside the OAIS Reference Model

SEEING THE FOREST FOR THE TREES Kara Van Malssen | AVPreserve PERICLES Conference November 30, 2016 [email protected] @kvanmalssen

a look outside the OAIS reference model

1996 2016

OAIS has been widely adopted

We have good maturity models (NDSA LoDP, ISO 16363, etc.)

Technology has matured

We have professional communities of practice

Training is widely available

Publication of “Preserving Digital Information” — Task Force on Archiving Digital Information

?

AVPRESERVEwe are an information management consulting

and software development firm, serving

media & entertainment corporategovernment

cultural heritage

higher education

areas of expertisedigital / media asset managementmetadata management & governancedigital preservation

servicesrequirements defintiontechnology selectiontool development (Fixity, Exactly)ISO 16363 assessmentsorganizational alignment

OAISISO 16363 ASSESSMENTS

ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT

OAISISO 16363 ASSESSMENTS inside the box

Category-level evaluation Top 3 strenths/gaps Recommendations

Roadmap

LITE ASSESSMENTAll criteria evaluated Scoring Priortization Categorization Timeline Recommendations Roadmap

FULL ASSESSMENT

OAIS

OAIS

ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT outside the box

ORGANIZATIONAL ALIGNMENT outside the box

OAIS

ISO assessments (inside the box)

DocumentationPolicyProcedureFunctionalityInfrastructureOperations

Organizational Alignment

(outside the box)

COMMON GAP AREAS

Content creators unreasonably burdened

No digital preservation mandate

No central oversight

No / lacking policy Exemplary siloed preservation efforts

2.50

Insuffcient infrastructure

COMMON GAP AREAS

Why?

1we have a cultural obsession with innovation 2 we don’t have

patience for the slow pace of change

“In Praise of Maintenance” Freakonomics Radio, 19 October 2016

Has our culture’s obsession with innovation led us to neglect the fact that things also need to be taken care of?

The work of the maintainers, those individuals whose work keeps ordinary existence going rather than introducing novel things. Brief reflection demonstrates that the vast majority of human labour… is of this type: upkeep.Andrew Russel and Lee Vinsel “Hail the Maintainers” Aeon, 7 April 2016

0

20

40

60

80

INNOVATION MAINTENANCEGoogle Search Trends 2004 - present

> 23 x

the next s

hiny thing

!

CREATORS, CREATE MAINTAINERS, MAINTAIN

INCENTIVES?

The most general lesson to be learned…is that the change process goes through a series of phases that, in total, usually require a considerable length of time.

The central issue is never strategy, structure, culture, or systems…But the core of the matter is always about changing the behavior of people.

John P. Kotter “Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail” Harvard Business Review, January 2007

John P. Kotter The Heart of Change, 2002

“Coming up with a plan, sticking with it, and getting buy in.”

“What is your greatest digital preservation challege today?”

Achieving systematic digital preservation requires large-scale organization change

Lasting organizational change takes concerted effort over many years

http://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/president

1996 2016

OAIS has been widely adopted

We have good maturity models (NDSA LoDP, ISO 16363, etc.)

Technology has matured

We have professional communities of practice

Training is widely available

Publication of “Preserving Digital Information” — Task Force on Archiving Digital Information

We have largely focused on the area inside the OAIS box

1996 2016

Publication of “Preserving Digital Information” — Task Force on Archiving Digital Information

Where do we go from here?

Reassess resource allocation as a profession

Resist the urge to become distracted by the next shiny thing

Recognize that our work, maintenance, is not always highly valued, even by ourselves

Remember that lasting change takes time

Seek help from other communities

Find ways to close the incentive gap

A FEW SUGGESTIONS

2Establish organization-wide governance & oversightBring together existing silos and identify stewardship gaps

Create a vision for digital preservation

3Demonstrate the value and impact of long-term accessibility

4Create and/or update policies

5Ensure alignment & accountability

6Focus on small wins, but don’t let them become a distraction

7 8Maintain…

Quantify the need and communicate it broadly Team up with marketing

1Instill a sense of urgency amongst all stakeholders

Ensure roles & responsibiities are clear, and all content is accounted for

Create feedback loops to help cement practices Team up with behavioral scientists

Incremental victories are necessary, but not the end goal

Remove technological barriers

Keep core infrastructure simple, and integrate specialized applications

Demonstrate connection between new behaviors and success. Ensure continuity during change in tech and staff

Kara Van Malssen | AVPreserve www.avpreserve.com [email protected] @kvanmalssen

thank you

Icons from The Noun Project: https://thenounproject.com/