ASGII Current Activities: Research and Development

While the State Library of North Carolina Digital Collections plays a large part in providing access to digital state documents (with an average of over 9,000 unique visitors to the site per month), it is by no means a “preservation solution.” Instead, it is one in a set of activities and tools that “promote the long-term maintenance of a bit stream (the zeros and ones)” that provide “continued accessibility of its contents” and ensure that information remains “intact and readable from the storage media.” Many of these preservation tools are being developed by libraries, archives, and their vendors; consequently, research and testing of software and tools remain a necessary component of the grant activities.

• Migrate a core sample of state publications data from their existing file format to another standard preservation file format to identify technical requirements and challenges inherent in the process, which will have to be addressed as migrations are required to enable continued access, and to establish policies for related preservation activities.
• Investigate various open source tools that offer important functionality that could be used in conjunction with the Digital Archive to facilitate digital preservation. These include tools such as JHOVE (JSTOR/Harvard Object Validation Environment) for file format verification; XENA (Xml Electronic Normalizing for Archives) and CRiB for format normalization; programs that tie into PRONOM (online registry of technical information) to identify when and how best to migrate data; integrated Rule Oriented Data Systems (iRODS), a project for building the next generation data management cyber infrastructure; OCKHAM alert and spell; and others.
• Further develop CONTENTdm functionality for building a publicly accessible digital state publications repository and evaluate discrete tools to automate the process by which agencies deposit or the Library acquires digital state publications, such as web forms that accept large file attachments, RSS feeds, and geospatial mapping.
• Research, evaluate, and monitor digital preservation efforts in other countries, states, and the federal government and participate in collaborative R&D projects, training workshops, and conferences to share expertise and gain knowledge about digital preservation technologies and projects to apply in North Carolina state government.

All quotations from the “Digital Preservation Management” tutorial. Originally produced by Cornell University. Accessed March 25, 2008. URL: http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/dpm/dpm-eng/terminology/preservation.html