Digitization for Preservation and Access

Instructor: Patricia K. Galloway

Office: SZB 459
Office hours: Thursday, 8:00-11:00 AM, or by appointment
Office telephone: 232-9220
Email: galloway@gslis.utexas.edu

Class meeting location: SZB 546
Class meeting period: Thursday, 12:00-3:00 PM

Teaching assistant: Ryan Sullivan
Email: rsullivan@ryansullivan.com

Course Description

This course complements LIS 392P.7, Organization and Planning of Preservation Projects (unique number 44750), in that it is focused upon what happens to electronic records from all sources, including preservation reformatting, once they have crossed the "archival threshold" for permanent retention. As such the course will cover media refreshment, conversion to neutral formats vs. emulation to retain original format, migration, and electronic records repository construction and administration. Projects addressing these issues in government agencies, worldwide as well as locally, will be discussed as case studies. Students will also be introduced to existing practices in the information technology field and their appropriateness to archival requirements: code vaulting and escrow; data warehousing; knowledge management. The course will include a consideration of the issues of authenticity and reauthentication in the long-term preservation of electronic records. Finally, we will address issues of access (including privacy and open records) in the context of WWW standards and digital library initiatives.

Objectives

The overall objective of this course is simple: if you as an archives professional are confronted with the need to construct an effective electronic records repository for permanent retention of records, you should know what the major difficulties are, what you need to do to meet them, and where you can go for help. More specifically, students will learn:

1) How to build a physical electronic records repository
2) How to build a logical electronic records repository
3) How to preserve the records with credible authenticity
4) How to provide access to permanent electronic records

Since there are as yet no universally-accepted standards, you will learn through consideration of the emerging Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model what is required to construct and implement credible standards for your repository.

Assignments

Class participation (20% of grade): Students will be expected to read assigned readings and come to class prepared to discuss them. Assigned readings and the sequence of lectures will be directed at supporting the process of repository building in the project, so discussion in the class will be a vital part of progress on it.

Semester project (30% of grade): We are together going to build a small records repository, guided by the OAIS model, to contain and give access to all the email, reports, and system documentation we generate among ourselves in the course of this project, using the findings of the Metadata class (unique number 44650) to structure our implementation. A set of "domain expert" assignments will be discussed at the first class and allocated at the second. Each student will be expected to create a web page on the course site which can serve as a resource for expertise in their chosen domain, which should include materials researched in developing domain specifications (see below). During April the "repository" will actually be constructed as students carry out the following tasks, with each student concentrating on their own area of domain expertise:

1) extract email from the class system, use text analysis tool to produce auxiliary subject line
2) place email messages in database "warehouse" with appropriate metadata
3) set up maintenance tasks and schedules
4) set up access front-end and usage monitoring

Lab sessions led by the instructor and teaching assistant will be used to get each step started, and students will complete any step not completed in lab outside of class; instructor and teaching assistant will be available to assist as needed. Grading for the project will be on the basis of the instructor's observations of students' efforts, the overall success of the project, and students' evaluations of their their own and each others' contributions to the project.

Specifications (15% of grade): Each student will write a set of specifications for the portion of the repository requirements covered by their domain expertise according to a preset format. Due date for the specifications, March 29, is not negotiable because the specifications will be implemented in the April lab classes; a penalty of one-half letter grade will be assessed for each day the essay is late.

Exams (mid-term, 10% of grade; final, 25% of grade): A brief mid-term test and class evaluation will allow students and instructor to get an idea of how well we are doing and will cover course content to that point. The final examination will cover the whole course content and team activities. Students are expected to take examinations on time unless they have a valid doctor's excuse or require accommodation for disability or religious holy days; in any case they should contact me as soon as they know that there will be a problem.