The retention and archiving of study materials and process records, raw data and source data, is a critical part of compliance with both Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) and Good Clinical Practice (GCP). The maintenance and retention of such records provides the means by which a study, trial, process or procedure can be reconstructed and thus enabling the information and results generated to be verified. Requirements for the operation of an archive and the archiving process for electronic records are no different to the requirement of physical records which are required to be retained for regulatory or business requirements. However, due to the variety and fragility of electronic records some additional features are required. The purpose of this document is to identify and discuss these features and provide guidance on how these challenges can be met.
More and more, library patrons are embracing the ease with which information can be accessed digitally. In an instant, a few keywords can bring patrons exactly what they desire, such as a book or a photograph, rather than going through the much more tedious activity of browsing through shelves, searching for a call number, or, even more daunting, the process of trying to work a microfilm reel. Thus, many librarians in libraries of every size and type are currently working toward making more information available electronically. This process can be daunting, however. Digitization and Digital Archiving: A Practical Guide for Librarians seeks to answer the following common questions: What should be stored? Where and how should it be stored? How exactly is information stored in a computer? Does it really make a difference if one uses a jpg or a tiff file? This book is a comprehensive guide to the process of digital storage and archiving. Assuming only basic computer knowledge, this guide walks the reader through everything he or she needs to know to start or maintain a digital archiving project. Any librarian interested in how digital information is stored can benefit from this guide.
The Digital Archives Handbook provides archivists a roadmap to create and care for digital archives. Written by archival experts and practitioners, Purcell brings together theoretical and practical approaches to creating, managing, and preserving digital archives. The first section is focused on processes and practices, including chapters on acquisitions, appraisal, arrangement, description, delivery, preservation, forensics, curation, and intellectual property. The second section is focused on digital collections and specific environments where archivists are managing digital collections. These chapters review digital collections in categories including performing arts, oral history, architectural and design records, congressional collections, and email. The book discuss the core components of digital archives—the technological infrastructure that provides storage, access, and long-term preservation; the people or organizations that create or donate digital material to archives programs, as well as the researchers use them; and the digital collections themselves, full of significant research content in a variety of formats with a multitude of research possibilities. The chapters emphasize that the people and the collections that make up digital archives are just as important as the technology. Also highlighted are the importance of donors and creators of digital archives. Building digital archives parallels the cycle of donor work—planning, cultivation, and stewardship. During each stage, archivists work with donors to ensure that the digital collections will be arranged, described, preserved, and made accessible for years to come. Archivists must take proactive and informed actions to build valuable digital collections. Knowing where digital materials come from, how those materials were created, what materials are important, what formats or topical areas are included, and how to serve those collections to researchers in the long term is central to archival work. This handbook is designed to generate new discussions about how archivists of the twenty-first century can overcome current challenges and chart paths that anticipate, rather than merely react to, future donations of digital archives.
Cultural history enthusiasts have asserted the urgent need to protect digital information from imminent loss. This book describes methodology for long-term preservation of all kinds of digital documents. It justifies this methodology using 20th century theory of knowledge communication, and outlines the requirements and architecture for the software needed. The author emphasizes attention to the perspectives and the needs of end users.
It is generally agreed that about 7,000 languages are spoken across the world today and at least half may no longer be spoken by the end of this century. This state-of-the-art Handbook examines the reasons behind this dramatic loss of linguistic diversity, why it matters, and what can be done to document and support endangered languages. The volume is relevant not only to researchers in language endangerment, language shift and language death, but to anyone interested in the languages and cultures of the world. It is accessible both to specialists and non-specialists: researchers will find cutting-edge contributions from acknowledged experts in their fields, while students, activists and other interested readers will find a wealth of readable yet thorough and up-to-date information.
To meet the demands of archivists increasingly tasked with the responsibility for hybrid collections, this indispensable guide covers contemporary archival practice for managing analog and digital materials in a single publication. Terms describing activities central to the archival process—such as appraisal, acquisition, arrangement, description, storage, access, and preservation—are included. In addition, responsibilities traditionally considered outside the purview of the archivist but currently impacting professional activities—such as cybersecurity, digital forensics, digital curation, distributed systems (e.g., cloud computing), and distributed trust systems (e.g., blockchain)—are also covered. The Handbook is divided into ten sections: current environment; records creation and recordkeeping systems; appraisal and acquisition; arrangement and description; storage and preservation; digital preservation; user services; community outreach and advocacy; risk management, security and privacy; and management and leadership. Some terms touch on more than one category, which made sorting a challenge. Readers are encouraged to consult both the table of contents and the index, as a topic may be addressed in more than one entry. A total of 111 entries by 105 authors are defined and described in The Handbook. The majority (79) of the contributors were from the US, 12 from Canada, 7 from the United Kingdom, 3 from Australia, 1 each from Germany, Jamaica, New Zealand, and the Russian Federation. Because archival practice differs among practitioners in different countries, this work represents an amalgamation. The Handbook was written primarily for archival practitioners who wish to access desired information at the point of need. However, can also serve as a valuable resource for students pursuing careers in the archival profession and information professionals engaged in related fields.
The Library of Congress maintains a digital preservation blog called The Signal. This book contains a series of reformatted posts from that blog on the subject of personal digital archiving. Specifically, the topics include guidance for such things as choosing file formats and adding descriptions to digital photographs; first-hand accounts of working with and preserving personal collections; descriptions of outreach activities and interviews with library professionals on the subject of personal digital archiving, and many others. Photo albums, letters, home movies and paper documents are a vital link to the past. Personal information we create today has the same value. The only difference is that much of it is now digital. Preserving digital information is a new concept that most people have little experience with. This book provides knowledge and tips to ensure that digital materials last a lifetime by taking steps to preserve them.
This volume is devoted to the broad topic of distributed digital preservation, a still-emerging field of practice for the cultural memory arena. Replication and distribution hold out the promise of indefinite preservation of materials without degradation, but establishing effective organizational and technical processes to enable this form of digital preservation is daunting. Institutions need practical examples of how this task can be accomplished in manageable, low-cost ways. This guide is written with a broad audience in mind that includes librarians, archivists, scholars, curators, technologists, lawyers, and administrators. Readers may use this guide to gain both a philosophical and practical understanding of the emerging field of distributed digital preservation, including how to establish or join a network.
In today’s information landscape, there are fewer topics that more urgently demand expansive discourse than digital preservation, which touches on everything from technology to copyright. The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services (ALCTS) steps up to the challenge with this comprehensive overview. Global in scope, it features case studies and contributions that discuss such key issues as the history of digital preservation; digital preservation and information ethics; strategies for getting started, sustaining digitization programs, and performing evaluation; fine-tuning digital preservation workflows, with a look at Digital Streams Matrix for analyzing pathways and tasks; preserving e-books, mobile device data, and other specific types of materials; collaborative efforts in digital preservation, including jargon-free techniques for engaging non-technical colleagues in digital legacy tools and processes; and the copyright, legal, and administrative issues connected with digital preservation. Academic librarians, technical services staff, technologists, and administrators will all benefit from this incisive collection.
Scholars and scrapbookers alike need your help with saving their most important digital content. But how do you translate your professional knowledge as a librarian or archivist into practical skills that novices can apply to their own projects? The Complete Guide to Personal Archiving will show you the way, helping you break down archival concepts and best practices into teachable solutions for your patrons’ projects. Whether it’s a researcher needing to cull their most important email correspondence, or an empty-nester transferring home movies and photographs to more easily shared and mixed digital formats, this book will show you how to offer assistance, providing explanations of common terms in plain language;quick, non-technical solutions to frequent patron requests;a look at the 3-2-1 approach to backing up files;guidance on how to archive Facebook posts and other social media;methods for capturing analog video from obsolete physical carriers like MiniDV;proven workflows for public facing transfer stations, as used at the Washington, D.C. Memory Lab and the Queens Library mobile scanning unit;talking points to help seniors make proactive decisions about their digital estates;perspectives on balancing core library values with the business goals of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and other dominant platforms; andadditional resources for digging deep into personal digital archiving. Featuring expert contributors working in a variety of contexts, this resource will help you help your patrons take charge of their personal materials.
