Info 284: Digital Curation
Spring 2022
Course description
An introduction to issues related to the management of digital objects throughout their lifecycle, from appraisal and acquisition to preservation, description, and access. Students will be introduced to the principles governing digital curation and will examine examples of digital curation in practice as applied to a range of digital object types and formats.
Learning outcomes
Define the principles of a workable preservation policy in libraries, archives, and corporate DAM settings.
Identify and apply disaster planning, prevention, response, and recovery strategies.
Locate and evaluate tools, research and other resources on preservation.
Identify the decision making process behind selection for preservation.
Describe the evolution of digital curation theory and practice.
Summarize the causes of deterioration of various types of information objects.
Identify key concepts and standards in digital preservation, including the OAIS model and repository development.
Portfolio
This course's culminating project was to select and curate an online collection of digitized historical documents and photographs. The collection was cataloged using MODS (Metadata Object Description Standard) and CCO (Cataloging Cultural Objects) and ingested into Preservica Starter.
In support of this project, my team and I developed a strategy that identified needed resources, designated users, and identified key vulnerabilities in the collection. We researched applicable case studies that assisted in developing our collection policies, curation and preservation strategies, and the execution of our project. Using Preservica Starter familiarized me with archive management systems, including ingest, preservation strategies, user audits, workflows, and metadata models.
Preservation Policy Study
This group project considered three digital preservation policies and how they might apply to our digital collection.
Case Study: Acquisition Process
Donor Interview Form | Completed Form | Final report
As part of the culminating semester project, our group was asked to imagine the type of institution where our selected digital collection would be archived. Additionally, we selected roles from different parts of the acquisition process: donor, digital archivist, and organizational executive. In my role as Digital Archivist, I developed an interview/collection intake form and used that to interview a donor, evaluate the collection, and gather data about it.
Project 3
Project Proposal | Metadata guide | Final Report | Repository | Screenshots
As “collection manager” for this project, I selected and prepared a discrete collection of digitized letters and photos. I also developed the metadata guidelines, rights statements, an ingest workflow, and generally gave guidance where needed. The collection was the product of an independent digitization and archival arrangement project I’d completed.
Professional Application
I applied my learning outcomes to my work as a digital archivist by using our Preservica experience as a deliverable case study in my evaluation of digital asset systems (DAMS). Comparing Preservica with other DAMS was invaluable for understanding the difference between types of systems, especially when selecting a system that balances enterprise needs with digital archives and preservation.
Our selection and use of MODS and CCO gave me the professional expertise to recommend the standards for a future DAMS implementation. Additionally, I repurposed the metadata guide as a local repository guide. The standards have since been implemented in an image cataloging project.