RLG 8/31/01 News Release: Digital Attributes Paper

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Of possible interest to many liblicense-l readers.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2001 10:01:45 -0700
From: Linda_West@notes.rlg.org
To: RLG Services Discussion Forum <rlg-services-forum@lists2.rlg.org>
Subject: [rlg-services-forum] RLG 8/31/01 News Release: Digital Attributes Paper

This release can be consulted at:

http://www.rlg.org/pr/pr2001-attributes.html

Attributes of a Trusted Repository for Digital Materials:
RLG and OCLC Release Paper for Comment

For more information, contact Jennifer Hartzell (jlh@notes.rlg.org,
+1-650-691-2207) or
Nita Dean (nita_dean@oclc.org, +1-614-761-5002)

Mountain View, California, August 31, 2001-- 

RLG has released the second report developed in collaboration with OCLC
Online Computer Library Center to advance long-term retention of digital
research materials.

"Attributes of a Trusted Digital Repository: Meeting the Needs of Research
Resources" is freely available as a PDF document from the RLG web site at
<http://www.rlg.org/longterm/attributes01.pdf> and is linked to from
<www.oclc.org/digitalpreservation> and <www.oclc.org/presres>

This 52-page paper is intended to prompt consideration and discussion
worldwide. Stakeholders in the effort to preserve digital materials are
urged to read it and comment to Robin.Dale@notes.rlg.org by early October
2001.

"I hope this will provide a framework and precipitate a debate for people
to make declarations about archiving services that can be understood in a
broad system context," said RLG president James Michalko. "Ultimately, I'd
like to see the debate result in some small number of trusted, reliable
service providers, whether they are research institutions themselves or
third parties."

"OCLC's collaboration with RLG and other leading institutions to explore
digital preservation issues and share the findings will benefit libraries
and their users around the world," said Jay Jordan, OCLC president and
chief executive officer. "OCLC's digital archiving initiatives are guided
by active participation in this working group and other key projects."

Dialog is needed on the standards, criteria, and mechanisms for certifying
digital information repositories, to help achieve an international
consensus. The report is relevant to local, regional, national, and
international efforts -- successful scholarship in the future will depend
heavily on coordinated, interoperable digital archiving.

While intended primarily for research institutions and specifically for
libraries and archives, this report contains guidance and recommendations
applicable to any organization interested in long-term maintenance of and
continuing access to digital materials. It highlights some key strategic
issues as it focuses on practical assistance to administrators and
implementers of digital archiving services.

The paper builds on the foundations laid down in "Preserving Digital
Information: Report of the Task Force on Archiving of Digital Information"
(1996), a watershed paper <http://www.rlg.org/ArchTF/index.html>
commissioned by RLG and the Commission on Preservation and Access, as well
as on the more recent "Open Archival Information System (OAIS) reference
model" advanced by the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
(148-page, July 2001 PDF document:

http://www.ccsds.org/rpa117/CCSDS-650.0-R-2.pdf).

Readers of the "Attributes" report need not be expert in technical
details; it calls for a general awareness of digital preservation and
surrounding issues. In five sections, the paper:

* proposes a definition of a trusted digital repository;
* identifies the primary attributes of such a repository;
* articulates a framework for developing a certification program;
* identifies the responsibilities of an OAIS-compliant digital
  repository; and
* makes several recommendations for follow-on work.

The expert working group charged by RLG and OCLC to develop "Attributes of
a Trusted Digital Repository" comprised Neil Beagrie, Joint Information
Systems Committee, UK; Meg Bellinger, Preservation Resources, OCLC; Robin
Dale, RLG; Marianne Doerr, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek; Margaret Hedstrom,
University of Michigan; Anne Kenney, Cornell University; Catherine
Lupovici, Biblioth�que national de France; Kelly Russell, Cedars Project
(CURL Exemplarsin Digital Archives), UK; and Colin Webb, National Library
of Australia.

The first report resulting from the RLG-OCLC collaborative effort to
create infrastructures for digital archiving was "Preservation Metadata
for Digital Objects: A Review of the State of the Art." That 50-page white
paper was issued in March 2001 and is available at:

http://www.oclc.org/digitalpreservation.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *     *

Headquartered in Mountain View, California, RLG (http://www.rlg.org) is a
not-for-profit membership corporation of over 160 universities, national
libraries, archives, historical societies, and other institutions with
remarkable collections for research and learning. In addition to a range
of collaborative activities that address members' shared goals for these
collections, RLG develops and operates databases and software to serve the
information needs of member and non- member institutions and individuals
around the world.

Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, OCLC Online Computer Library Center
(http://www.oclc.org) is a nonprofit organization that provides
computer-based cataloging, reference, resource sharing, and preservation
services to 40,000 libraries in 76 countries and territories. OCLC was
founded in 1967 to improve access to the world's information and reduce
information costs, and conducts ongoing research to develop technologies
to support that mission. Preservation Resources is a division of OCLC.

[RLG news releases home page: http://www.rlg.org/pr/pressrel.html]