Long-Term Preservation (LTP) of Digital Information: City of Toronto Case Study

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Information Space April 26, 2010 By Irina Melikhova, Senior Records

1 Long-Term Preservation (LTP) of Digital Information: City of Toronto Case Study Managing Information in the Public Sector: Shaping the New Information Space April 26, 2010 By Irina Melikhova, Senior Records and Information Analyst, City of Toronto Records and Information Management 1

2 Agenda LTP in Information Management Issues to be addressed City approach Development of the LTP Strategy Expected outcomes Collaboration LTP initiatives in the world Records and Information Management 2

3 LTP in Information Management Preservation of digital information is an important part of information management The nature of digital information requires us to look into preservation issues much earlier than with traditional records Most of information and records are born digital Records and Information Management 3

4 Why do we need an LTP Strategy? support daily business operations and ensure efficient service delivery provide continuous access to information according to MFIPPA preserve historically important records for the future generations meet compliance and legal requirements Records and Information Management 4

5 Issues to be addressed Rapid obsolescence and evolution of technology System and format incompatibility Records and Information Management 5

6 Issues to be addressed (Con t) Fragile nature of the digital storage media Dead Sea Scrolls: media - parchment, papyrus, copper, 2000 years old still can be read Modern storage media will they last for 20 years? Records and Information Management 6

7 Issues to be addressed (Con t) lack of contextual information (metadata)? Records and Information Management 7

8 What is Long-Term Preservation? Long-term preservation is a set of processes, policies, standards, practices, systems, and technologies employed by skilled people to ensure the long-term accessibility and usability of authentic digital information assets Records and Information Management 8

9 City approach to the LTP strategy Business Case 2007 Environmental scan Sept-Oct 08 Project Charter Oct-Dec 08 RFP January - April 09 Proposals Evaluation May- August 09 Agreement Sept-Dec 09 Strategy Development Dec 09 July 10 Records and Information Management 9

10 Development of the Strategy Phase 1 Problem Definition and Best Practices Overview Phase 2 Needs Assessment Phase 3 Development of the Strategy Implementation ?? Dec 09 Feb 10 March 10 May 10 June 10 July 10 Records and Information Management 10

11 Development of the Strategy IMERGE Consulting Inc with their subcontractor Cohasset Associates has been selected for the development of the Strategy. The primary consultant and digital preservation subject matter expert is Dr. Charles Dollar of Cohasset Associates. Records and Information Management 11

12 Development of the Strategy Phase 1: Problem definition and best practices overview ISO standards: ISO Standard on Records Management (2003) ISO (2003), Open archival information system - Reference model (OAIS) ISO 18492, Long-Term Preservation of Document-based Information (2005) ISO (PDF/A), Document management Electronic document file format for longterm preservation (2005) Canada and USA standards: CAN/CGSB (2005) Electronic Records as Documentary Evidence and CAN/CGSB (1993) Microfilm and Electronic Images as Documentary Evidence Trustworthy Repositories Audit and Certification: Criteria and Checklist (TRAC), USA Preservation Metadata Information Strategies (Library of Congress, USA) Research and Demonstration Projects A multinational digital preservation methodology (InterPARES) Automation of trusted digital repository activities (DCAPE, irods) Emulation as an alternative to format migration (KEEP). Records and Information Management 12

13 Digital Preservation Programs Danish National Archives Florida Digital Archives National Archives of the United Kingdom Washington State Digital Archives National Archives of Australia City of Vancouver Georgia Digital Archives Library and Archives Canada United States National Archives and Records Administration. Records and Information Management 13

14 Development of the Strategy Phase 1: Problem definition and best practices overview Digital Preservation best practices: Explicit Digital Preservation Mandate Digital Preservation Policy Governance Collaboration with Internal and External Stakeholders Specialized Technical Expertise Open Source & Technology Neutral Formats Designated Community Life Cycle Scheduled Transfer of Digital Records Acceptable Transfer Formats Transfer Format Identification and Validation Archival Preservation Formats Original Bit Stream Preservation Media Renewal Integrity of Digital Assets Secure Storage Preservation Metadata Access to Digital Assets Records and Information Management 14

15 Development of the Strategy Phase 1: Problem definition and best practices overview Digital Preservation Capability Maturity Model Records and Information Management 15

16 Development of the Strategy Phase 1: Problem definition and best practices overview Hypothetical Digital Preservation Assessment Scorecard Records and Information Management 16

17 Development of the Strategy Phase 2: Needs Assessment Records and Information Management 17

18 Development of the Strategy Phase 2: Needs Assessment Major stakeholders: Records and Information Management / Archives (City Clerk s Office) I & T Business divisions producing records with long-term and permanent retention such as: Technical Services / Survey and Mapping Toronto Building Toronto Water Vitally important City programs Records and Information Management 18

19 Development of the Strategy Phase 2: Needs Assessment Survey Web-based questionnaire of 29 very specific questions Distributed to selected SMEs (subject matter experts) and key stakeholders, mostly managers/supervisors level Distributed to 340 people, received 132 answers (39%) Records and Information Management 19

20 Development of the Strategy Phase 2: Needs Assessment Interviews Selected project groups and divisions 30 interviews are planned / 40 interviews are conducted Records and Information Management 20

21 Development of the Strategy Phase 2: Needs Assessment preliminary findings Challenges: Unstructured digital information content ( no one knows what is out there ) Retention schedule and retention practices are well-developed for paper records, but are hard to apply to electronic records Most of City s records are born digital and City s print and file records management practices do not work for many records (stored in databases, 3D graphics etc) Many divisions want to abandon paper altogether No centralized electronic records management No consistent and defined digital preservation practices across the City Records and Information Management 21

22 Development of the Strategy Phase 2: Needs Assessment preliminary findings Strengths Understanding of importance of LTP and a very strong common opinion that something needs to be done Migration, conversion, standard formats and other preservation initiatives on ad hoc basis Technical expertise Collaboration Records and Information Management 22

23 Development of the Strategy Phase 3: Long-Term Preservation Strategy Based on the digital long-term preservation best practices (Phase 1) and the City s Needs Assessment (Phase 2), the City s Long-Term Preservation Strategy will be developed to address the City s digital preservation needs Records and Information Management 23

24 Outcomes of the LTP Strategy Roadmap to improve digital preservation capability of the City Overall framework for managing preservation of electronic records and information Clarify preservation roles amongst various stakeholder agencies such as Records and Information Management, Information & Technology, business divisions, senior management, managers, supervisors etc. Recommendations on the implementation and sustainment of long-term preservation in the City including technologies and other resources Records and Information Management 24

25 Outcomes of the LTP Strategy (Con t) Measures for the electronic records preservation depending on their format, media, retention period and usage Address the obsolescence of formats, software and hardware: migration conversion emulation Records and Information Management 25

Preservation methods - examples Source: Ensuring long-term preservation and usability of digital information - http://www.ndl.go.jp/en/aboutus/preservation_03.

26 Preservation methods - examples Source: Ensuring long-term preservation and usability of digital information - Migration / Conversion Migration means an act of moving records from one system to another, while maintaining the records authenticity, integrity, reliability and usability (CAN/CGSB ). Conversion means process of changing records from one medium to another or from one format to another (CAN/CGSB ). Records and Information Management 26

27 Preservation methods - examples Source: Ensuring long-term preservation and usability of digital information - Emulation Old software is not playable on the new PC, the emulator recreates the operating environment of the old PC to use the target software with the new PC. Emulation means combined software and hardware to reproduce the performance of another computer platform, allowing programs or media designed for a particular computing platform to operate in a different, usually newer environment. Records and Information Management 27

28 Long-Term Preservation Strategy in the City collaboration The project aligns with, and extends, current enterprise initiatives in information management. A long-term preservation strategy is not a stand alone solution but an integral component of an enterprise approach to information management. Records and Information Management 28

29 Records and Information Management 29

30 Long-Term Preservation Strategy in the City collaboration Requires ongoing collaboration and involvement of key stakeholders, subject matter experts and representatives of various divisions, projects and areas: Presentations on each phase of the strategy Workshops Survey and interviews Project reports review by key stakeholders and SMEs Project Blog within City's web 2.0 space. People's involvement is an important component of change management. Records and Information Management 30

31 Long-Term Preservation Strategy in the City collaboration Project Blog within City's web 2.0 space : provide project updates, post project materials (reports, presentations etc); Records and Information Management 31

32 Long-Term Preservation Strategy in the City collaboration Project Blog within City's web 2.0 space (con t): space for discussions and feedback from the broader audience Records and Information Management 32

(draft) 2007, initiated by the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) LAC Trusted Digital Repository

33 Long-Term Digital Preservation initiatives Provincial / municipal level (Canada): Ontario Archives Alberta City of Edmonton City of Vancouver National level Canadian Digital Information Strategy (draft) 2007, initiated by the Library and Archives Canada (LAC) LAC Trusted Digital Repository Numerous international experiences UK and other European countries, Australia, USA Records and Information Management 33

34 Long-Term Preservation in the World Records and Information Management 34

35 Questions? For additional information, please contact: Irina Melikhova, Records and Information Management 35

Trustworthiness of Preservation Systems. David Minor UC San Diego Library

Trustworthiness of Preservation Systems David Minor UC San Diego Library Why does anyone care? We all want to trust systems Preservation systems more than most Long-term-ness Often not-us-ness How do we