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ARST 555: THE PRESERVATION OF DIGITAL RECORDS – Course Syllabus (3)

Program : Master of Archival Studies
Year: 2009-2010, Winter session, Term 1
Instructor: Luciana Duranti
Office location: IBLC room 481
Office phone: 604-822-2587
Office hours: drop by for quick questions, or make an appointment if you need more than five minutes
E-mail address: luciana@interchange.ubc.ca
Course web site and Discussion list: The Luciana Duranti Students Pages contain the information relevant for the course. You will be given the address and the information to login the restricted area on the first day of classes. The discussion list is a-555.

 

 

Course Goal : To give students an opportunity to build on basic knowledge acquired in the first year courses by exploring in depth issues concerning the preservation of digital records by the creating organization/individual and its legitimate successor, such as an archival program or institution.

Course Objectives:

Upon completion of this course students will:

  • have gained an in-depth appreciation of the challenges presented to both records creators and records preservers by the adoption of digital technology for records creation, maintenance and preservation
  • be knowledgeable about ways of dealing with such challenges through proper planning and strategizing
  • understand the methods developed and implemented for ensuring the preservation of digital records
  • be familiar with recent and current research and literature on the preservation of digital records
  • be able to approach new and unforeseen digital records issues from a solid knowledge of concepts and principles

Course Topics :

  • concepts and principles involved in the creation, management and preservation of digital records
  • existing policies, standards, practices and systems for the management and preservation of digital records
  • theory and methods for the management and preservation of digital records developed by contemporary research projects and discussed in the pertinent literature
  • management frameworks for digital records in records creating organizations and archives

Course Restrictions: Limited to students in the MAS or Joint MAS/MLIS Program who have completed the MAS core unless permission is granted by the SLAIS Graduate Advisor and the course instructor.

Format of the course : The class meets for three hours each week. The format of the course consists of lectures, in-class and online discussions, and group presentations.

Required Readings (note: The Archivaria articles are all available on the ACA website):

  1. Bantin, Philip (2002), “Electronic Records Management - A Review of the Work of a Decade and a Reflection on Future Directions," Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science, vol. 71, supp. 3: 47 -81. http://www.indiana.edu/~libarch/ER/encycloarticle9.doc
  2. Bearman, David (2006), “Moments of Risk: Identifying Threats to Electronic Records,” Archivaria 62 (Fall): 15-46
  3. Brown Adrian (2007), Archiving Websites ( London: Facet Publishing)
  4. Canadian General Standards Board (2005), Electronic Records as Documentary Evidence (CAN/ CGSB-72.34-2005)
  5. Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (2002), Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS). Blue Book, Issue 1 (Washington, D.C.: CCSDS Secretariat). http://public.ccsds.org/publications/archive/650x0b1.pdf
  6. Davis, Susan (2007), “Electronic Records Planning in ‘Collecting’ Repositories, “The American Archivist 71, 1 (Spring/Summer):167-187.
  7. Department of Defense (2002), DoD 5015.2 STD, Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management Software Applications. http://jitc.fhu.disa.mil/recmgt/standards.html (DoD 5015.2-STD, dated April 2007)
  8. Duff, Wendy (1995), “Will Metadata Replace Archival Description? A Commentary,” Archivaria 39 (Spring): 33-38. http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12066/13041
  9. Duranti, Luciana (1997), “The Thinking on Appraisal of Electronic Records: Its Evolution, Focuses, and Future Directions,” Janus 2: 47 -67.
  10. Duranti, Luciana and Randy Preston, eds. (2008), International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES) 2: Experiential, Interactive and Dynamic Records (Padova, ANAI). Online at http://www.interpares.org/ip2/book.cfm
  11. Duranti, Luciana and Kenneth Thibodeau (2006), “The Concept of Record in Interactive, Experiential and Dynamic Environments: the View of InterPARES,” Archival Science 6(1): 13-68. Online at http://www.interpares.org/ip2/display_file.cfm?doc=ip2_book_appendix_02.pdf
  12. Duranti, Luciana, ed. (2005), The Long-Term Preservation of Authentic Electronic Records: The Findings of the InterPARES Project (San Miniato: Archilab). Online at http://www.interpares.org/book/index.cfm
  13. Duranti, Luciana, Terry Eastwood and Heather MacNeil (2002), Preservation of the Integrity of Electronic Records (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers Group). Online version of the research project at http://www.interpares.org/UBCProject/index.htm
  14. Duranti, Luciana (2002), “Authenticity and Appraisal: Appraisal Theory Confronted With Electronic Records,” in Proceedings of the 3rd International Colloquium on Library and Information Science: "The Refined Art of Destruction: Records' Appraisal and Disposal." October 9-11, 2002. Salamanca , Spain (Salamanca : University of Salamanca )
  15. Eastwood, Terry (2004), “Appraising Digital Records for Long-term Preservation,” Data Science Journal 3: 202-208. http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/dsj/3/0/202/_pdf
  16. Eastwood, Terry (1996), “Should Creating Agencies Keep Electronic Records Indefinitely?” Archives and Manuscripts 24(2): 256-267.
  17. Erlandsson, Alf (1997), Electronic Records Management. A Literature Review. ICA Study 10 (Paris: International Council on Archives). http://www.ica.org/sites/default/files/10litrev_1.pdf
  18. European Commission, Model Requirements for the Management of Electronic Records (MoReq2), http://www.project-consult.net/Files/MoReq2_body_v1_0.pdf
  19. Evans, Joanne, Sue McKemmish and Karuna Bhoday (2006), “Create Once, Use Many Times: The Clever Use of Recordkeeping Metadata for Multiple Archival Purposes,” Archival Science 5: 17 -42
  20. Hofman, Hans (2005), “Chapter 2: The Use of Standards and Models,” in McLeod and Hare, eds., Managing Electronic Records (London: Facet Publishing)
  21. ICA (2008), Principles and Functional Requirements for Records in Electronic Office Environments. Module 1. Overview and Statement of Principles (Paris: ICA), Module 1. Online at http://www.ica.org/en/node/38972
  22. ICA (2008), Principles and Functional Requirements for Records in Electronic Office Environments. Module 2. Guidelines and Functional Requirements for Electronic Records Management Systems (Paris: ICA), Module 2. Online at http://www.ica.org/en/node/38970
  23. ICA (2008), Principles and Functional Requirements for Records in Electronic Office Environments. Module 3. Guidelines and Functional Requirements for in Business Systems (Paris: ICA), Module 3. Online at http://www.ica.org/en/node/38968
  24. ICA Committee on Electronic Records (1997), Guide for Managing Electronic Records From An Archival Perspective (Paris: ICA). Online at http://www.ica.org/en/node/30019
  25. ICA Committee on Current Records in the Electronic Environment (2005), Electronic Records: A Workbook for Archivists (Paris: International Council on Archives). Online at http://www.ica.org/en/node/30273
  26. Kunde, Nancy (2009), “Getting It Done-Collaboration and Development of the Digital Records Conversion Standard,” The American Archivist 72 (Spring/Summer): 146-169.
  27. MacNeil, Heather (2000), “Providing Grounds for Trust: developing conceptual requirements for the long-term preservation of authentic electronic records,” in Archivaria 50 (Fall): 52-78
  28. MacNeil, Heather (2002), “Providing Grounds for Trust II: The Findings of the Authenticity Task Force of InterPARES,” in Archivaria 54 (Fall): 24-58
  29. MacNeil, Heather (1995), “Metadata Strategies and Archival Description: Comparing Apples and Oranges,” Archivaria 39 (Spring): 22-32
  30. McDonald, John (2005), “The Wild Frontier Ten Years On,” in J. McLeod and C. Hare, eds., Managing Electronic Records (London: Facet Publishing), 1-17
  31. McDonald, John and Kathleen Shearer (2006), “Toward a Canadian Digital Information Strategy: Mapping the Current Situation in Canada,” version 2.0, Library and Archives Canada http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/012033/f2/012033-700-e.pdf [For further information on this strategy, see http://www.collectionscanada.ca/scin/index-e.html ]
  32. McLellan (2006), “InterPARES 2 Project - General Study 11 Final Report: Selecting Digital File Formats for Long-Term Preservation.” Online at http://www.interpares.org/display_file.cfm?doc=ip2_file_formats(complete).pdf
  33. “Reflections on InterPARES,” (2007), Archivaria 64 (Fall): 113-198
  34. “Reflections on InterPARES,” (2008), Archivaria 65 (Spring): 125-186.
  35. “Reflection on InterPARES,” (2009), Kenneth Hawkins, “A Pattern Language for Electronic Records,” Archivaria 67 (Spring): 157-188.
  36. Rothenberg, Jeff (1999), Avoiding Technological Quicksand: Finding a Viable Technical Foundation for Digital Preservation (Washington, D.C.: CLIR). Online at http://www.clir.org/PUBS/reports/rothenberg/pub77.pdf
  37. Suderman, Jim, Fiorella Foscarini and Erin Coulter (2005), “InterPARES 2 Project – Policy Cross-domain: Archives Legislation Study Report.” Online at http://www.interpares.org/display_file.cfm?doc=ip2(policy)archives_legislation_study_report.pdf [For additional policy reports, see: http://www.interpares.org/ip2/ip2_documents.cfm?cat=policy ]
  38. UKOLN (2003), “Open Source Software for Digital Repositories: DSpace and Fedora.” http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/resources/digital-repositories/
  39. Wallace, David A. (1995), “Managing the Present: Metadata as Archival Description,” Archivaria 39 (Spring): 11-21. http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/view/12064/13037
  40. Yeo, Geoffrey (2007), “Concepts of Record (2): Prototypes and Boundary Objects,” The American Archivist 71, 1 (Spring/Summer):118-143
  41. Yeo, Geoffrey (2007), “Concepts of Record (1): Evidence, Information, and Persistent Representations,” The American Archivist 70, 2 (Fall/Winter): 315-343

Recommended Readings :

  • Allinson, Julie (2006), “OAIS as a Reference Model for Repositories: An Evaluation,” version 0.5, UKOLN. Online at http://search.nla.gov.au/cs.html?url=http%3A//www.ukoln.ac.uk/repositories/publications/oais-evaluation-200607/Drs-OAIS-evaluation-0.5.pdf&qt=oais&col=padimeta&n=1
  • An, Xiaomi (2005), “Chapter 5: Research in Electronic Records Management,” in McLeod and Hare, eds. (2005), Managing Electronic Records (London, UK : Facet Publishing)
  • Bailey, Catherine (1997), “From the Top Down: The Practice of Macro-Appraisal,” Archivaria 43 (Spring): 89-128
  • Bantin, Philip (1998), “Strategies for Managing Electronic Records: A New Archival Paradigm? An Affirmation of Our Archival Traditions?” Archival Issues 23(1): 17-34. Online at http://www.indiana.edu/~libarch/ER/macpaper12.pdf
  • Bantin, Philip (1999), “The Indiana University Electronic Records Project Revisited,” The American Archivist 62(1): 153-163
  • Bantin, Philip (1998), “Developing a Strategy for Managing Electronic Records—The Findings of the Indiana University Electronic Records Project,” The American Archivist 61(2): 328-364
  • Bearman, David (1992), “Documenting Documentation,” Archivaria 34 (Summer): 33-49
  • Brown, Thomas Elton (1996), “Myth or Reality: Is There a Generation Gap Among Electronic Records Archivists?” Archivaria 41 (Spring): 234-243 http://journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/viewPDFInterstitial/12135/13137
  • Caswell, Michelle (2009), “Instant Documentation: Cell-Phone-Generated Records in the Archives,” The American Archivist 72 (Spring/Summer): 133-145
  • Dollar, Charles (1992), Archival Theory and Information Technologies: the Impact of Information Technologies on Archival Principles and Methods (Macerata: University of Macerata )
  • Dollar, Charles (1978), “Appraising Machine-Readable Records,” The American Archivist 41 (October): 423-430.
  • Duff, Wendy (1998), “Harnessing the Power of Warrant,” The American Archivist 61(1): 88-106.
  • Duff, Wendy (1996), “Ensuring the Preservation of Reliable Evidence: A Research Project Funded by the NHPRC,” Archivaria 42 (Fall): 28-45
  • Duranti, Luciana (2005), “The Long-term Preservation of Accurate and Authentic Digital Data: The InterPARES Project,” Data Science Journal 4: 106-118. Online at http://journals.eecs.qub.ac.uk/codata/journal/contents/4_05/4_05pdfs/DS426.pdf
  • Duranti, Luciana and Heather MacNeil (1996), “The Protection of the Integrity of Electronic Records: An Overview of the UBC-MAS Research Project,” Archivaria 42 (Fall): 46-67
  • Hedstrom, Margaret (1997), “Building Record-Keeping Systems: Archivists Are Not Alone on the Wild Frontier,” Archivaria 44 (Fall): 44-71
  • Henry, Linda (1998), “Schellenberg in Cyberspace,” The American Archivist 61(2): 309-327
  • Lavoie, Brian F. (2004), “The Open Archival Information System Reference Model: Introductory Guide,” DPC Technology Watch Series Report 04-01 (Dublin , OH : Online Computer Library Center and Digital Preservation Coalition). Online at http://www.dpconline.org/docs/lavoie_OAIS.pdf
  • MacNeil, Heather (2001), “Trusting records in a postmodern world,” in Archivaria 51(Spring): 36-47
  • McDonald, John (1995), “Managing Records in the Modern Office: Taming the Wild Frontier,” Archivaria 39 (Spring): 70-79
  • McLeod, Julie and Catherine Hare, eds. (2005), Managing Electronic Records (London , UK : Facet Publishing)
  • O’Sullivan, Catherine (2005), “Diaries, On-line, Diaries, and the Future Loss to Archives; or, Blogs and the Blogging Bloggers Who Blog Them,” The American Archivist 68 (Spring/Summer): 53-73
  • Pittsburgh Meeting (1997), “Proceedings from the Working Meeting on Electronic Records Research. Pittsburgh , PA , May 1997,” Special issue of Archives and Museum Informatics 11(3-4)
  • Senecal, Sylvain (2005), “The Effect of the Web on Archives,” Archivaria 59 (Spring): 139-152
  • Upward, Frank and Sue McKemmish (1994), “Somewhere beyond Custody,” Archives and Manuscripts 22(1): 136-149.

Recommended Web Sites :

You can find them posted on the Luciana Duranti Students Pages, restricted area.

Course Assignments, Due dates and Weight in relation to final course mark:

Assignments/Evaluation

Due Dates

Weight

Group presentation: Together with other students, lead a 80-minutes presentation of your assigned topic. The presentation will be followed by a 80-minutes class discussion.

As assigned.

30%

In-class participation and discussion
Based on the required readings for the class and those you may have chosen to read among the recommended ones.

 

30%

Final paper: A critical extended essay of about 20 pages on a relevant topic proposed by you and accepted by the instructor.

November 30, last day of class.

40%

Course Schedule :

Date

Topics and Assignments

Readings

Week 1
(Sept 14)

Introduction to the course. Discussion of relevant literature, web sites, assignments, etc.

 

Week 2
(Sept 21)

Setting the stage: issues and concepts.

#1, 2, 9, 17, 27-28

Week 3
(Sept 28)

Guest Speaker: Sherry Xie

E-Government

#31

Week 4
(Oct. 5)

Existing standards and models related to digital recordkeeping

Presentation 1: Allen, Stevenson-Zerkee, Walker

#4, 5, 7, 18, 20

Week 5
(October 19)

Concepts, principles and methods guiding the reliable and accurate creation of digital records that can be preserved

Presentation 2: Hellman, Malmas, Pecho

#10 (Part II; Appendix 20), 11, 12 (Part 1; Appendix 1, 2), 13 (Chapters 1,2), 40-41

Week 6
(Oct 26)

Concepts, principles and methods guiding appraisal of digital records

Presentation 3: Homenick, Kuffler, McKeen

#10 (Part 4), 12 (Part IV and V), 14, 15

Week 7
(Nov 2)

Concepts, principles and methods guiding the accurate and authentic maintenance of digital records

Presentation 4: Julier, Kim, Leinberger, McManus

#13 (Chapters 3,4), 19, 21-23

Week 8
(Nov. 9)

Concepts, principles and methods guiding the long-term preservation of authentic digital records

Presentations 5: Inefuku, McIntosh, McLellan, Valli

#6, 8, 10(Appendix 21), 12 (Part 3), 16, 19, 26, 26, 36, 39

Week 9
(Nov 16)

Guest Speaker: Evelyn McLellan

File Formats

#32, 38

Week 10
(Nov. 23)

Special issues: Web Sites, E-mail, Artistic and Scientific Records

Presentation 6: Penz, Smith, Van Dijk, Wendell

#3, IP3 General Study on e-mail, 10 (Part I), 33-35

Week 11
(Nov 30)

Guest Speaker: Adam Jansen

Intellectual frameworks for the development of policies for the creation, management and preservation of digital records: case studies on implementation

#10 (Part VII), 30-31, 37

Attendance: The calendar states: “Regular attendance is expected of students in all their classes (including lectures, laboratories, tutorials, seminars, etc.). Students who neglect their academic work and assignments may be excluded from the final examinations. Students who are unavoidably absent because of illness or disability should report to their instructors on return to classes.

Evaluation: UBC marking policies are followed. All assignments will be awarded numeric grades using the evaluative criteria given on the SLAIS web site . Under normal circumstances, late assignments will not be accepted unless prior arrangements are made with me. If an extension is granted, a late penalty will be imposed, except in cases of legitimate illness or emergencies. The late penalty is 2% per day. The reason for this penalty is to maintain fairness in the grading process.

Your active in-class participation is encouraged and strongly recommended as it constitutes 30% of your final mark. Most classes will consist of part lecture/presentation and part seminar-type discussion facilitated either by the instructor or by the weekly group presenters. Active participation consists of your regular and on-time attendance and of your contribution of ideas, analyses, and thoughtful questions during class discussions, demonstrating that you have done the required readings.

Written & Spoken English Requirement: Written and spoken work may receive a lower mark if it is, in the opinion of the instructor, deficient in English.

Disability Accommodation: The University accommodates students with disabilities who have registered with the Disability Resource Centre [http://www.students.ubc.ca/access/drc.cfm]. You must register with the Disability Resource Centre to be granted special accommodations for any on-going conditions.

Religious Accommodation: The University accommodates students whose religious obligations conflict with attendance, submitting assignments, or completing scheduled tests and examinations. Please let your instructor know in advance, preferably in the first week of class, if you will require any accommodation on these grounds. Students who plan to be absent for varsity athletics, family obligations, or other similar commitments, cannot assume they will be accommodated, and should discuss their commitments with the instructor before the course drop date. UBC policy on Religious Holidays: http://www.universitycounsel.ubc.ca/policies/policy65.pdf

Academic Dishonesty: Please review the UBC Calendar Academic regulations for the University policy on cheating, plagiarism, and other forms of academic dishonesty: http://www.students.ubc.ca/calendar/index.cfm?tree=3,54,111,959 . Also visit and review the contents of these two resources: Plagiarism Resource Centre: For Students: http://www.library.ubc.ca/home/plagiarism/welcome.html and Plagiarism Avoided: Taking Responsibility For Your Work: http://www.arts.ubc.ca/Plagiarism_Avoided.373.0.html for useful information on avoiding plagiarism and on correct documentation practice. Students are held responsible for knowing and following all University regulations regarding academic dishonesty. If a student does not know how to properly cite a source or what constitutes proper use of a source it is the student's personal responsibility to obtain the needed information and to apply it within University guidelines and policies. If evidence of academic dishonesty is found in a course assignment, previously submitted work in this course may be reviewed for possible academic dishonesty and grades modified as appropriate. University policy requires that all incidents of academic dishonesty must be forwarded to the Dean’s office for review and possible action.

Student Feedback :
I welcome and encourage your feedback and suggestions at any time during the semester. Please speak to me outside of class, write me a note, send me an email or telephone me.  

Harold Naugler Memorial Prize ($1,500)
A prize has been endowed by friends and family in memory of Harold Naugler. The award will be given to a student achieving excellence in the study of electronic records. The award is made on the recommendation of the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate Studies.
Indicators:

  • Excellence in the study of electronic records
  • May consider work on related research projects with faculty

Procedure: Based on calculation of grades and/or nomination with rationale by this course instructor to the SLAIS Director, by April 15, 2010.

Additional course information : This is a tentative syllabus that will be modified by the beginning of the class.