Running head: Preserving digital collections webinar 1

Summary of Preserving Digital Collections: An Overview

Germaine Hawkins
LIS 610
Spring 2018
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Summary of Preserving Digital Collections: An Overview

Selecting an activity to report on for my first written assignment was dictated by the
weather. Since I was not able to travel to and from local libraries and schedule appointments
with Librarians, I chose to review a Webinar which was offered by the Association for Library
Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS). The webinar was presented by Peter Verheyen who
has been a rare book conservator at both Yale and Cornell Universities, and also leads the
Conservation Lab at Syracuse University. While his webinar was the last of a 3-part webinar
series, I was still able to gain valuable information about fundamental best practices for
creating and preserving digital collections. In his hour long presentation, Verheyen provided
clear definitions of what digital preservation was and what it wasn’t, and the dangers of not
following best practices for digitizing collections. Later in his lecture, he familiarizes
participants with several digital preservation initiatives which work together collaboratively to
ensure the longevity of the collections.
Mr. Verheyen began his presentation by providing a clear definition of what digital
preservation is and what it is not. According to him, digital preservation is not simply digitizing
an analog object. It is the ongoing management and maintenance of the collection. As time
goes on and technology progresses, collections have to move along with those changes.
Understanding how to migrate records by following a process is crucial for the longevity of
digital collections. (Verheyen, 2016). A well preserved digital collection is also supplemented by
good metadata. There are 3 types of metadata: descriptive, structural, and administrative.
Descriptive metadata describes the object that is being preserved. Examples of descriptive
metadata would be fields which describe the size of the objects, their color, whether or not
they are posters or photographs, and other embellished details to distinguish them as part of a
collection. Structural metadata describes the physical elements of the object that is being
preserved. An example of structural metadata would be the format that a photograph is
preserved in, such as PDF, TIFF, or JPEG. Administrative metadata describes the gives
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information about the management of the object, such as technical rights, copyright
information, who maintains it, and who is responsible for its preservation (Verheyen, 2016).
As I listened to the presentation, I developed a clear understanding of the process of
creating a digital collection. First it must come to the library by acquisition, then it needs to be
cataloged, it must then be stored in a safe place, then into an OPAC (Online Public Access
System) so that the public can access it (Verheyen, 2016).
A good digitation process requires a significant amount of planning. Verheyen
recommends collaboration with others such as bibliographers, catalogers, and faculty. The plan
must be open to review and revision, and required the commitment of all involved. A clear
understanding of the rules of sustainability must be established so that everyone knows who is
responsible for the assets, who is going to pay for the maintenance of the collection, and who is
going to be responsible for carrying it on as a long-term project (Verheyn, 2016).
Verheyen firmly believes that digital preservation is a risky, fragile process that must be
handled with care. Verheyen first acknowledged that many of the processes for digitization can
be complicated for Librarians, and he recommends outsourcing the work to professional
vendors to avoid confusion and save time. To preserve the authenticity of a digital collection, it
was recommended that Librarians write-protect their master images and work off of derivative
copies. This prevents altering of the images. It was also recommended that digitizers be
mindful of how they store digital content. Certain methods of storing content are extremely
risky and not reliable for the long-term preservation of the collection. Certain media storage
devices, software file formats, and operating systems can become obsolete and collection items
must be preserved in such a way that they can migrate safely from one place to another.
Saving collections on CDs, DVDs, and flash drives is not recommended because they get lost,
damaged, and are seldom labeled. Files get deleted and web links break. While most of the
participants in the webinar reported that they were using clouds to store their collections,
Verheyen also pointed out the risks of doing that as well. Once something is stored onto
Google Photos or Flicker, intellectual and physical control over the collection is gone. The files
could disappear without notification and that can’t be recovered (Verheyen, 2016).
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The lecture went on to discuss many best practices that could be implemented to
prevent complications with digital preservation. He provided remedies for the safe
preservation of collections, and guidance on ways to maintain collections on a long-term basis.
According to Verheyen, digital collections should be maintained in a Trusted Digital Repository
(TDR). He recommends a digital preservation management system called the Open Archival
Information System (OAIS) which provides clear guidelines for the creation and maintenance of
digital collection. It is used by library systems all over the world and its model provides for the
safe acquisition, storage, data management, administration, preservation, and access of digital
collections (Verheyen, 2016).
In addition to suggesting the OAIS system as a way to provide a safe method for the
long-term maintenance of digital collections, Verheyen also discussed several digital
preservation initiatives which provide a way for collection managers to collaborate to get the
best long-term results. He divided the initiatives into two categories: Co-operative Projects and
Hosted Options. The co-operative are initiatives which allow several agencies or organizations
to work together to ensure the safety of the digitized product. Projects included an initiative
called Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe (LOCKSS) which is designed to preserve scholarly journals,
ebooks, and locally digitized content. It is a “grass roots” initiative which allows collections to
be stored by a minimum of 6 partner organizations as backup. If one file becomes corrupted, it
is available through the partner organization. Libraries and publishers participate in a
collaborative effort to preserve. They share the costs and responsibilities of preserving the
collection. Portico is another co-operative project which preserves digital content such as
journal articles and ebooks. The purpose that Portico serves is to migrate mass amounts of
content to a different format as those formats change. AP Trust, a digital repository, is a co-
operative effort which allows participants to store collections and documents into the
repository and also retrieve and view them. It also provides access to the collection. Digital
Preservation Network (DPN) is also a collaborative repository, but it does not migrate files from
one format to another. Both AP Trust and DPN contain “nodes” which back up other nodes in
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case one platform crashes. These initiatives, according to Verheyen, exist to ensure that safe
preservation of collections and documents.
Hosted options include the OCLC Digital Archive which provides for the secure, managed
storage of digital collections. It works with CONTENTdm and works well for those without
infrastructure. DSpaceDirect is a hosted repository service which can be used to preserve and
provide access to academic documents.
I enjoyed viewing this webinar. Mr. Verheyen is highly knowledgeable about the safe,
reliable tools and strategies that should be used to ensure that collections professionals have
long-term sustainability of their digital collections and documents. He provided a clear
definition of digital preservation and explained what it is and what it is not. He outlined many
hazards, dangers, and problems that could occur when we are careless with digitizing
collections. Finally, he provided recommendations for tools which provide for the long-term
preservation of collections, strategies and initiatives, and best practices for ensuring that our
treasures are kept safe. I would highly recommend this webinar to anyone who is interested in
learning about the details of preserving digital collections.
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References

Verheyen, Peter. (March, 2016). Preserving Digital Collections. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TM2rDf40kTU&feature=youtu.be