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RLG and Preservation

Digital Archive Attributes Working Group

A Joint Effort with OCLC

Final report:
Trusted Digital Repositories: Attributes and Responsibilities (PDF)

Draft report:
Attributes of a Trusted Digital Repository: Meeting the Needs of Research Resources

Background

In 1994-96, the joint RLG-CPA task force began the work to articulate the nature of a sustainable digital archives. That work has been continued by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems in its Reference Model for an Open Archive Information System (OAIS) (www.ccsds.org/RP9905/RP9905.html), and by the many groups and individual institutions that are designing their own archiving systems.

But design issues are driven by the individual needs of the particular community that will be served by the system. RLG and OCLC are convinced that still needed are a definition and consensus on the characteristics of a sustainable digital archives for large-scale, heterogeneous collections held by research repositories.

Institutions worldwide are working on solutions to the digital preservation challenge. RLG and OCLC are working with representatives from some of the most knowledgeable of these institutions and organizations. The objective: A rational set of criteria for archives that can hold the full range of digital collections and datasets (including both "born digital" and "born-again digital" information) requiring long-term storage and access systems.

International collaboration is essential to this task. Success will rest heavily on the ability of the expert working group convened by RLG and OCLC to accurately define the attributes of a cultural heritage digital archive—and the organizations' ability to build consensus around that definition among our partners and communities of interest.

Working Group Charge

Define the characteristics of reliable archiving services for heterogeneous research collections. This work will take the form of a document to be made available electronically to the community at large. The work will identify tools that support research institutions as they seek either to build their own archiving capacity or contract with third-party services for archiving functions.

Working Group Members

Neil Beagrie, Joint Information Systems Committee
Meg Bellinger, Preservation Resources, OCLC
Robin Dale, RLG
Marianne Doerr, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Margaret Hedstrom, University of Michigan
Anne Kenney, Cornell University
Maggie Jones, Cedars Project (CURL Exemplars in Digital Archives)
Catherine Lupovici, Bibliothèque national de France
Kelly Russell, Cedars Project (CURL Exemplars in Digital Archives)
Colin Webb, National Library of Australia
Deborah Woodyard, The British Library

For more information, contact Robin Dale or Meg Bellinger.

Find more at the digital preservation initiative home page.

Last updated May 2002

This site was frozen in 2004 and is now out of date. Please go to RLG's current Web site for all information. Questions? Contact us.

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