“Filling the digital preservation gap” with Archivematica

Jenny MitchamDigital ArchivistBorthwick Institute for ArchivesUniversity of York

6 November 2015

Filling the digital preservation gap:Project aim

“…to investigate Archivematica and explore how it might be used to provide digital preservation functionality within a wider infrastructure for Research Data Management.”

What gap?• This project is looking specifically at the

Research Data that is being created in Universities– Many UK Universities have a repository– Many UK Universities have a digital storage facility– Many UK Universities collect metadata about the

research that is being carried out– ….but very few are actively preserving the data

This is a collaborationUniversity of Hull:• Chris Awre – Head of Information Services, Library and

Learning Innovation• Richard Green – Independent Consultant• Simon Wilson – University ArchivistUniversity of York:• Julie Allinson – Manager, Digital York• Jen Mitcham – Digital ArchivistArtefactual Systems

Project structure• Phase 1 – explore: testing, research,

thinking -produce a report (3 months)• Phase 2 – develop: make

Archivematica better for RDM, plan implementation (4 months)

• Phase 3 – implement: set up proof of concepts at York and Hull (6 months)

Why Archivematica?• Standards-based• Open Source• Flexible and customisable• Compatible with hundreds of file formats• Advanced search and storage management• Integrated with third-party systems

From https://ww.archivematica.org

Why Archivematica?…because it fills the right gap

Why would we recommend Archivematica for RDM?

• It is flexible and can be configured in different ways for different institutional needs and workflows

• It allows many of the tasks around digital preservation to be carried out in an automated fashion

• It can be used alongside other existing systems as part of a wider workflow for research data

• It is a good digital preservation solution for those with limited resources

• It gives institutions greater confidence that they will be able to continue to provide access to usable copies of research data over time

…and don’t forget the community• It is an evolving solution that is continually

driven and enhanced by and for the digital preservation community– Moving target…but moving in the right direction– Some really interesting developments underway– Engaged communities• International community• UK user group (includes National Library of Wales, Tate

Britain, Museum of London, Arkivum, several HEIs and some European institutions)

What are the downsides?• It isn’t a magic bullet• There is no guarantee your data will be

readable in the future• It can only be as good as current digital

preservation practice• It can be fiddly to install correctly• The GUI isn’t that intuitive• You need staff who understand it

How are we enhancing Archivematica?

1. Enable better workflows for RDM (producing a DIP on request)

2. Allowing the DIP (access copy of data) to be usable by different repository systems

3. Helping reduce bottlenecks for big data4. Workflows for unidentified files5. Enabling easier querying of data within

Archivematica by third party applications6. Better documentation

What next?• Finish off phase 2:

enhancements to Archivematica available to whole community

• Bid for funding for phase 3: …to lead to proof of concept implementations

Read all about it!

http://digital-archiving.blogspot.co.uk/