RE: [-empyre-] Introducing the InterPARES 2 project and Dr Simon Pockley

[jim.suderman@archives.gov.on.ca]

Komninos,

I have interspersed some responses in your message.  And by this morning I
see a lot more is in the inbox...

Jim Suderman

-----Original Message-----
From: Komninos Zervos [mailto:k.zervos@griffith.edu.au]
Sent: February 2, 2005 7:12 PM
To: soft_skinned_space
Subject: Re: [-empyre-] Introducing the InterPARES 2 project and Dr
Simon Pockley



greetings jim, yvette, luciana and simon(hi simon, it's been a long time
1999?)

you have all worked on digital archives and archiving. i imagine this means
the amassing of resources into one archive, in one physical location,
accessible via search functions which are only as good as the metadata they
contain.

>>>>
InterPARES 1 examined preservation of digital records from a preserver's
perspective. The current project, InterPARES 2, is looking at preservation
from the creator's perspective. The preserver could be a physical archive
but wouldn't necessarily need to be that. This question ties into issues of
funding and responsibility and perhaps even security.  <<<<

what problems have you come up against in embedding the right kind of
metadata for this evolving field? (big question but maybe just one problem
each)

>>>>Never mind embedding. Just figuring out what metadata is needed is a big
question. See James Turner's MetaMap - a work of art in itself - for further
details (http://mapageweb.umontreal.ca/turner/meta/english/metamap.html).
Determining record authenticity will not be just about metadata either
although it will play a key role, I think, especially in terms of managing
record identity and integrity. But in terms of managing records through
space and time supporting records will also be required. These are
summarized in eight benchmark (for creators) and three baseline (for
preservers) requirements - see
http://www.interpares.org/book/interpares_book_k_app02.pdf.  <<<<

also what are the pros and cons of GRID based databases where digitised
holdings are at very many different locations(ie no centralised single
database), but they can all be searched and directly accessed at any
location via search engine software?

>>>>InterPARES 2 researchers located at the San Diego Supercomputing Centre
are considering data grids in the context of preservation of government and
scientific records.  A general study has been conducted on the grid the
outcome of which is in course of publication in "The American Archivist".
The following is an excerpt from the abstract:  "Preservation environments
for digital records are successful when they can separate the digital record
from any dependence on the original creating infrastructure. Data grid
technology, which supports the management of records that are located on
multiple storage systems, provides the software needed for infrastructure
independence."  

Note that InterPARES has included the "re-production" of electronic records,
i.e., provision of access, as part of the preservation process.  The focus
of both InterPARES and the article are on preservation   <<<<  

cheers
komninos
underground
http://live-wirez.gu.edu.au/Staff/Komninos/underground/entry.html

komninos zervos
lecturer, convenor of CyberStudies major
http://www.gu.edu.au/ppages/k_zervos
 http://users.bigpond.net.au/mangolegs
http://spokenword.blog-city.com

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