Custodians of Culture, Architects of Archives

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Custodians of Culture, Architects of Archives

• Martin Halbert (Emory Univ., MetaArchive
  Cooperative) - Facilitator
• Thib Guicherd-Callin (Stanford University
  Libraries, LOCKSS/CLOCKSS)
• Aaron Trehub (Auburn University, Alabama Digital
  Preservation Network)
• Richard Pearce-Moses (Arizona State Library,
  Archives, and Public Records)
• Micah Altman (of Harvard University,
  representing the Data-PASS project)
• NDIIPP Partner Meeting
• Washington, D.C.
• July 8, 2008

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Observations from the MetaArchive Cooperative

• Martin Halbert
• Emory University
• MetaArchive Cooperative

NDIIPP Partner Meeting Washington, D.C. July 8,
2008
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The Need for Collaborative Approaches

• The increased number and diversity of those
  concerned with digital preservationcoupled with
  the current general scarcity of resources for
  preservation infrastructure suggests that new
  collaborative relationships that cross
  institutional and sector boundaries could provide
  important and promising ways to deal with the
  data preservation challenge.  These
  collaborations could potentially help spread the
  burden of preservation, create economies of scale
  needed to support it, and mitigate the risks of
  data loss.
• - The Need for Formalized Trust in Digital
• Repository Collaborative Infrastructure
• NSF/JISC Repositories Workshop (April 16,
  2007)

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The Inception of a New Field

• Digital Preservation is a new and emerging field
  now increasingly recognized and accepted by
  cultural memory organizations everywhere
• The questions are no longer the general if and
  why, but the more specific how, who,
  when, and what
• The NDIIPP community has stood on a green field
  and laid down the foundation stones for what is
  to come This is important work, keep it up

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The Rise of Distributed Digital Preservation
Networks

• There is currently rapid growth of cooperative
  networks as a way of undertaking digital
  preservation activities
• Interest in implementation of this approach to
  digital preservation at all levels, ranging from
  small groups of historical associations to entire
  countries
• Represents a way to balance autonomy and
  solidarity of effort, independent control of
  assets and investment in a shared group
  infrastructure

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MetaArchiveCooperative

• A distributed digital preservation cooperative
  for digital archives
• Established in 2004 under the auspices of and
  with funding from the National Digital
  Information and Infrastructure Preservation
  Program (NDIIPP) of the Library of Congress
• A functioning DDP network and cooperative for
  libraries and other cultural heritage
  organizations
• Sustained by cooperative fee memberships, LC
  contracts, and other sponsored funding
• Provides training and models for other groups to
  establish similar distributed digital
  preservation networks
• Fosters broader awareness of digital preservation
  issues

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New MetaArchive Activities

• Doubling in size with incorporation of new
  members during next six months
• Conducting workshops for and consulting with many
  new groups that are interested in emulating our
  model in specific communities (state, country)
• Developing new tools for cooperative efforts,
  including revised conspectus database, and
  experiments in format migration and indexing

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Growing Archives in MetaArchive

• Southern Digital Culture (national)
• Transatlantic Slave Trade Historical Data
  (international)
• Electronic Theses and Dissertations
  (international)
• Result of a strategic alliance between the
  Networked Digital Library of Theses and
  Dissertations (NDLTD) announced at ETD 2008 in
  Aberdeen, Scotland

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The Way Forward

• There is audacity in hope for the future there
  is strength in this audacity
• There is more that draws us together than
  separates us
• We as a community of cultural memory institutions
  share many values concerning our commitment to
  preserving a public web of knowledge, values that
  motivate us to work together cooperatively

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Contact Info

• Dr. Martin Halbert
• martin.halbert_at_emory.edu
• 404-727-2204