Metadata for Digital Preservation: The PREMIS report

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Metadata for Digital Preservation The PREMIS
report

• Priscilla Caplan,
• Florida Center for Library Automation
• DDC workshop on long-term curation within digital
  repositories
• Cambridge, July 6 2005

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Background

• Published metadata specifications
• National Archives of Australia, Recordkeeping
  Metadata Standard
• National Library of New Zealand, Metadata
  Standard Framework Preservation Metadata
• Defense Technical Information Center, Technical
  Metadata for the Long-term Management of Digital
  Materials
• And many others
• OCLC/RLG Working Group on Preservation Metadata
• Preservation Metadata for Digital Objects A
  review of th e state of the art (2001)
• A Metadata Framework to Support the Preservation
  of Digital Objects (2002)

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PREMIS

• OCLC/RLG working group on Preservation Metadata
  Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) charged June
  2003
• Objectives
• Define core set of preservation metadata
  elements, with supporting data dictionary,
  applicable to broad range of digital preservation
  activities
• Identify and evaluate alternative strategies for
  encoding, storing, managing, and exchanging
  preservation metadata

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Membership

• Priscilla Caplan, FCLA (Chair)
• Rebecca Guenther, LC (Chair)
• Michael Alexander, British Library
• George Barnum, GPO
• Charles Blair, U. of Chicago
• Olaf Brandt, U. of Gottingen
• Adam Farquhar, British Library
• David Gewirtz, Yale
• Kevin Glavash, MIT/Dspace
• Cathy Hartman, U. of N. Texas
• Helen Hodgart, British Library
• Nancy Hoebelheinrich, Stanford
• Roger Howard/Sally Hubbard, Getty Museum
• Pam Kircher, OCLC
• John Kunze, Calif. Digital Library

• Brian Lavoie, OCLC liaison
• Robin Dale, RLG liaison
• Vicky McCarger, LA Times
• Jerry McDonough, NYU/METS
• Evan Owens, JSTOR
• Erin Rhodes, NARA
• Madi Solomon, Walt Disney Co.
• Angela Spinazze, ATSPIN
• Stefan Strathmann, U. of Gottingen
• Gunter Waibel, RLG
• Lisa Weber, NARA
• Robin Wendler, Harvard
• Hilde van Wijngaarden, KB
• Deborah Woodyard-Robinson
• Andrew Wilson, NAA

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Products

• Implementing Preservation Repositories for
  Digital Materials Current Practice and Emerging
  Trends in the Cultural Heritage Community.
  (September 2004)
• Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata Final
  Report of the PREMIS Working Group (May 2005)
• Final report
• Data Dictionary
• Examples
• XML Schemas
• Maintenance Activity

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Implementation Survey Report

• State of the art in Winter, 2003/2004
• 28 libraries, 7 archives, 3 museums, and 11 other
  
• 13 different countries 45 from U.S.
• 38 in planning 33 development 46 production

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Data Dictionary

• Defines a core set of implementable preservation
  metadata elements.
• Information that supports and documents the
  digital preservation process
• Information that supports and documents the
  process of maintaining the viability,
  renderability, understandability, identity and
  authenticity of digital objects over time.

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• Defines a core set of implementable preservation
  metadata elements.
• What most working preservation repositories are
  likely to need to know.

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• Defines a core set of implementable preservation
  metadata elements.
• As rigorous as possible
• As much explanation as possible
• Implementation neutral -- This is what you have
  to know
• Values can be automatically supplied and
  processed -- no lengthy textual descriptions

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Data Model
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Limits on scope

• Minimal descriptive metadata, agent metadata
• Rights only as pertain to preservation
• No format-specific technical metadata
• No media or hardware details
• No business rules

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Three kinds of objects

• File a named and ordered sequence of bytes that
  is known by an operating system.
• Bitstream contiguous or non-contiguous data
  within a file that has meaningful common
  properties for preservation purposes.
• Representation the set of files, including
  structural metadata, needed for a complete and
  reasonable rendition of an Intellectual Entity.

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Sample data dictionary entry
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Final Report

• Data dictionary
• Explanation of data model
• Discussion of key elements and issues (e.g. the
  meaning of format, the use of digital signatures
  in preservation)
• Discussion of non-core metadata (elements not
  included)
• Implementation considerations
• conformance
• Glossary

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PREMIS Conformance

• If you use the name of an element, you must
  follow the definition of the element
• Locally defined elements can extend or refine,
  but not conflict with PREMIS elements
• Repeatablity and obligation can be more stringent
  but not more liberal
• Mandatory elements must be known (not necessarily
  stored)
• Repository must be able to supply mandatory
  elements when sending package to another
  repository

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A few issues worth noting

• Semantic units v. metadata elements
• The role of registries (format, environment)
• Composition level and the onion model

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Semantic units pertaining to Objects

• objectIdentifier
• preservationLevel
• objectCategory
• objectCharacteristics
• creatingApplication
• originalName
• storage
• environment
• signatureInformation

• relationship
• linkingEventIdentifier
• linkingIntellectualEntityIdentifier
• linkingPermissionStatementIdentifier

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Semantic units pertaining to Events

• eventIdentifier
• eventType
• eventDateTime
• EventDetail
• eventOutcomeInformation
• linkingAgentIdentifier
• linkingObjectIdentifier

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Semantic units pertaining to Agents

• agentIdentifier
• agentName
• agentType

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Semantic units pertaining to Rights

• permissionStatementIdentifier
• linkingObject
• grantingAgent
• grantingAgreement
• permissionGranted

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Relationships

• Between objects and other objects
• Structural
• Derivative
• Dependency
• Between entities of different types
• Objects and Intellectual entities, Rights, Events
• Events and Objects
• Agents and Events
• Rights and Objects, Agents

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Next steps

• Encourage a robust Implementors group
• Discussion list (PIG)
• Wiki (PIG-pen)
• Establish a Maintenance Activity
• Oversee changes to Data Dictionary schema
• Provide guidelines, workshops, help
• Governance
• Stable organizations committed to finding
  resources
• Delegate as much as possible to Implementors

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For information

• PREMIS WEBSITE
• http//www.oclc.org/research/projects/pmwg/
• all reports
• MAINTENANCE ACTIVITY WEBSITE
• http//www.loc.gov/standards/premis/
• Schemas
• PREMIS Implementers Group (PIG) forum
• EMAIL FOR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS
• PREMIS_at_loc.gov