Developing a digital preservation strategy at Edinburgh University Library
| Pages | 33-37 |
| Date | 01 March 2004 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/03055720410530979 |
| Published date | 01 March 2004 |
| Author | Najla Semple |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Developing a digital
preservation strategy at
Edinburgh University
Library
Najla Semple
The author
Najla Semple is Digital Archives Research Officer, Edinburgh
University Library, Edinburgh, UK.
Keywords
Academic libraries, Digital storage
Abstract
Digital preservation poses an increasing cause for concern in UK
higher education institutions. This paper provides a general
overview of the development of a digital preservation pilot
project within a university library,including the future integration
of the METS and OAIS standards. It also considers how it is
planned to automate these digital preservation practices in
Edinburgh University Library’s new digital object management
system.
Electronic access
The Emerald Research Register for this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is
available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0305-5728.htm
Digital preservation pilot project
In 2001, the Special Collections Division of
Edinburgh University Library initiated a digital
preservation research project. The project’s
primary aim was to carry out research into the
long-term preservation of university publications.
Digital information forms a large part of
Edinburgh University’s academic and
administrative output. Some of the wide variety of
digital resources are part of the responsibility of
Edinburgh University Library, and are therefore
subject to the same preservation policies as other
media. Policies for digital preservation should be
co-ordinated with those for the preservation of
analogue material, such as manuscripts, microfilm,
or paper journals.
Among the project aims were:
.to establish a strategy and methodology for
permanent digital archiving of electronic
versions of core university publications;
.to research all aspects of archival digital
preservation and access in the University of
Edinburgh context including legal
considerations;
.to create appropriate metadata for the
archived versions.
Recommendations for archiving were a key aspect
to the project. Legal issues were also important.
New legislation such as the Data Protection Act
and Freedom of Information Act are a pressing
concern for the university, especially given the
uncertainty about how to effectively store and
maintain access to these digital corporate records.
Preservation metadata was also researched in full.
Research was carried out over the course of a
year, and resulted in a final report. This report was
mainly aimed at university staff members, as a
reference point for those who want to start
thinking about digital preservation, and start
incorporating effective measures at the start of a
digital resource’s life cycle. A strategy was
recommended, and a series of guidelines put
forward. This report can be found at:
www.lib.ed.ac.uk/digpres
In addition to producing general guidelines and
recommendations, it was deemed important that
there was a practical outcome to the project, so it
was decided to archive the online version of the
current university calendar. The project worked in
liaison with the calendar team and facilitated their
planning processes in the future implementation of
the online university calendar. As this document
has legal status, it was identified as a suitable test
bed for digital preservation. Features of this pilot
archive will be examined further on in this paper.
Raising university-wide awareness about digital
preservation constituted a key part of the project.
A digital preservation seminar was held at the start
of the project at which a number of experts in the
field gave papers. This was extremely well attended
VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems
Volume 34 · Number 1 · 2004· pp. 33-37
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0305-5728
DOI 10.1108/03055720410530979
33
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