SFSU - Digital Preservation

Digital PreservationChris Alexander • San Francisco State University • www.chris-alexander.com

http://www.chris-alexander.com

Areas of Focus• Overview

• Sampling of some issues • What is Digital Preservation? • Issues faced with policy

implementation • Digital Assets

• Considerations • Viability • Renderability • Understandability • Digital Asset Management

Systems

• OAIS and all it’s parts • DAMS that Implement OAIS • Collection Management vs.

Digital Asset Management • New Media Art

• Listening Post @SJMA • Nam June Paik @MoMA

• The Future • Social Media • Data • Mobile, and other

interactives

Digital Preservation!Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies


What is Digital Preservation?!!The series of managed activities necessary to ensure continued access to digital materials for as long as necessary (in the best format possible).

Some of the issues involved in implementing digital preservation policy

• Digital content lives everywhere. Information is stored, but it’s value and location is not recorded making use and discovery very difficult.

• What happens when the person responsible moves on?

• Digital Preservation is a disruptive technology.

• A digital asset is only as good as it’s description or metadata.

• If an institution is using a Digital Asset Management System, particularly for collection images, does the DAMS sync regularly with the Collection Management System?



What are museums creating today?

ImagesAudio Video

Checklists

Label Text

Wall Text

Essays

Websites

Marketing Donor InfoCatalogues

Mobile Apps Presentations


3 Keys for !Preserving Digital Assets


Viability - Maintain the integrity of the bitstream. Ensure that the file is working and not corrupted.


Renderability - Having a way of displaying the bitstream through hardware and software.


Discoverability - Taking into account future generations and how they understand or handle the file.

Digital Asset Management Systems!(DAMS)









Open Archival Information System



Ingest: These are the steps required to transfer items from their current location into the archive in a managed manner.



Archival Storage: The storage of the bulk data (usually files) based on standard storage management tools.



Data Management: Tools to manage the storage of the archive, including the metadata.



Administration: A set of tools to administer the system and access to it.



Access: Tools to search, browse and download the contents of the archive.



Preservation Planning: The module that manages the information so that it can be accessed long into the future.

DAMS Supporting OAIS








Digital Asset Management System Integration with !Collection Management Systems

• Important to have if you are using a DAMS to deliver permanent collection images.

• Need to maintain the data for both at the same time. • No out-of-box systems that provide both • Museums have successfully integrated both through

the use of APIs in each type of system • MoMA - NetXposure and Gallery Systems TMS • Fitzwilliams - Extensis Portfolio and Adlib


New Media Works of Art• More and more museums are starting to collect them. • What does the day-to-day, year-to-year, and decade-to-

decade maintenance entail? • What are the implications if you are no longer able to

display the work due to damage or outdated technology? • What are the ethical questions behind replacing old

technologies with more modern?


Listening Post at the San Jose Museum of Art


Listening Post Maintenance and Preservation• Artist to provide ongoing maintenance and updates to the work

(has since switched from chatrooms to Twitter). • At time of acquisition the piece was recording a 10-year block

of chatroom “chatter”. • Through consultation with the artist, the museum has acquired

backup hardware components. • Acquisition by SJMA included a lengthy manual on care and

maintenance.


Nam June Paik at MoMA NY


Nan June Paik Maintenance and Preservation• Artist left a lot to chance by allowing others to make decisions about

displaying the work, but insisted on making certain decisions. • Paik insisted on CRT monitors vs. newer flat screen. • Paik left no clear road map for repairing or replacing obsolete

exhibition equipment. • Artist had approved prior change to the work - U-Matic tape for video

display was converted to laserdisc. • MoMA purchased a full back-up of all the CRTs from the shop that

supplied them to him. Also purchased spotlight and camera back-ups. • A floppy disc player that provided the original music was replaced by

a wireless MP3 player. The floppy disc player remains on the piano while the MP3 player is hidden.


The Future



Social Media• Comments

• Likes

• Updates

• Tweets


• Web Data

• Mobile Data

• Donor Data

• Collection Data

Analytics


• Mobile Tours

• Kiosks

• In-gallery interactives

• Surveys

Mobile Apps and Other Interactives

Questions?


• Dale, Robin L., and Bruce Ambacher. Trustworthy Repositories Audit and Certification: Criteria and Checklist. Online Computer Library Center, Feb. 2007. Web. Feb. 2014. <http://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/pages/trac_0.pdf>.

• "Introduction - Definitions and Concepts." Digital Preservation Coalition. Digital Preservation Coalition, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.dpconline.org/advice/preservationhandbook/introduction/definitions-and-concepts>.

• Lavoie, Brian F. The Open Archival Information System Reference Model: Introductory Guide. Rep. Digital Preservation Coalition, Jan. 2004. Web. Feb. 2014. <http://www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/91-introduction-to-oais>.

• Tilbury, Jonathan. The Long-Term Preservation of Digital Information. Digital-preservation.com. Digital Preservation Coalition, Mar. 2010. Web. Feb. 2014. <http://www.digital-preservation.com/wp-content/uploads/DigitalArchiving.pdf>.

• Waibel, Günter. "Stewardship for Digital Images: Preserving Your Assets, Preserving Your Investment." The Digital Museum: A Think Guide. Ed. Herminia Din and Phyllis Hecht. Washington, DC: American Association of Museums, 2007. 167-77. Print.

• Wharton, Glenn. "CONSERVING A NAM JUNE PAIK ALTERED PIANO, PART 2." InsideOut. Museum of Modern Art New York, 8 May 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. <https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2013/05/08/conserving-a-nam-june-paik-altered-piano-part-2>.

Bibliography


• Trustworthy Repositories Audit and Certification: Criteria and Checklist • http://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/pages/trac_0.pdf

• Digital Preservation Jargon Buster • http://www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/379-dpc-jargon-

buster-july-2009 • Hanging Together (Staff blog at OCLC)

• http://hangingtogether.org • List of Digital Asset Management Systems

• http://bitly.com/DAMSlist • ResourceSpace - Open Source DAMS

• http://www.resourcespace.org • Portico - http://www.portico.org • Preservica - http://preservica.com • Exlibris Rosetta- http://exlibrisgroup.com • Archivematica - http://archivematica.org

Resources



Chris AlexanderEmail: [email protected] Web: www.chris-alexander.com LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/cmalexander Twitter: www.twitter.com/cmalexander !Thank you!

SFSU - Digital Preservation

Technology

digital materials

collection management

set of tools

interactivesthe future

account future generations

continued access

collection images

managed manner