Walker Sampson

Kirschenbaum, M.(2008). Mechanisms: New media and the forensic imagination. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Matthew Kirschenbaum, Associate Professor of English and Associate Director at the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH), here examines digital media in the context of traditional textual studies and bibliography. Kirschenbaum presents to the reader forensic techniques for data recovery and investigation that reveal how digital media, typically assigned attributes like ephemeralness, repeatability and variability (what he terms a traditional "screen essentialism" attitude about digital media), actually fulfills traditional bibliographic requirements of individualism, provenance and inscription. Central to understanding these qualities of new digital media is an understanding of the affordances and technical mechanics of the dominant storage device for the last twenty or so years: the magnetic hard disk drive. Kirschenbaum reveals how data inscription on these devices (the magnetic fluxes inscribed on the drive's multiple platters) can identify past events and previous inscriptions in a discrete spatial territory, much like the clues traditionally found textual scholars. The author makes a distinction between this "forensic materiality" and the more familiar "formal materiality" of digital media: its carefully controlled and highly engineered behavior we see on the screen. The author elaborates on how software engineering and extensive error checking at every level of the computer works to migrate magnetic fluxes to actual human-readable documents on the screen. Even at the formal materiality level however, many bibliographic and textual details are overlooked for lack of close inspection: multiple versions, multiple operating environments, actual textual differences between works, etc. Three case studies serve to illuminate these topics: a forensic and textual analysis of a Mystery House disk image, a bibliographic and historic look at the multiple versions of Afternoon: A Story by Michael Joyce, and a look at the social and textual transmissions of William Gibson's "Agrippa." Kirschenbaum's central argument is that traditional characterizations of electronic texts and media (fluid, repeatable, identical, ephemeral) is insufficient for bibliographic, preservationist, and textual purposes, and that the media itself, upon closer examination, supports none of these characterizations.

Doctor, G. & Ramachandran, S. (2008). DSpace@IBSA: Knowledge sharing in a management institute. VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 38(1), 42-52.

The authors detail a cursory survey and initial pilot implementation of an institutional repository at ICFAI Business School in Ahmedabad, India. The authors begin by citing a 2006 survey indicating that "Intellectual Capital and Faculty" is the prime parameter in evaluating management organizations. The ICFAI Business School collects the intellectual capital of its faculty -- articles, research papers, conference papers, book reviews, case studies, etc. -- in a bound paper volume called Annual Research Reports. A better system of organizing and distributing intellectual capital is suggested. An initial survey solicits interest in a digital repository from 50 faculty members, receiving a response from 33. The results indicate a strong interest and need. It was also observed that a more thorough or rapid deployment of such a system may require a special staff rather than a joint venture between current IT and library employees. DSpace was chosen as the best solution for a digital repository and was implemented on a modest server (Pentium IV 2.4 GHz, 256 MB RAM, 40GB hard disk). The authors usefully note that installation of DSpace was not easy as compatibility between multiple system components (Postgre SQL, Apache, Java, the underlying Fedora Linux OS and other software libraries) was a complex task. At the time of publishing the DSpace repository was still in an initial phase with a trained library staff submitting faculty papers into the archive. Although a reader might wish for a larger sample size in the cursory survey, the report is a solid example of the challenges and advantages provided by a new digital repository. The authors' point that an organization's intellectual capital is foundational to its success is well-taken.

Peters, T. (2002). Digital repositories: Individual, discipline-based, institutional, consortial, or national? The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 28(6), 414-417.

The author examines the multiple brands of digital archives emerging, specifically addressing the strengths and potential weaknesses of consortial digital repositories. Though published some time ago in terms of the fast-moving development of digital repositories, the author's considerations have lost none of their applicability or relevance. The author first notes the rising popularity of institutional repositories, citing their natural advantages for academic and research organizations: as an alternative to journal publishing, to enhance the prestige of the institute, etc. The author summarizes prominent institutional digital repositories: MIT's DSpace (itself becoming a platform for consortial collections), Ohio State's Knowledge Bank and Caltech Library Systems' use of the Open Archive Initiative's Protocol for Metadata Harvesting. Two consortial digital repositories are examined: the ARNO (Academic Research in the Netherlands Online) and OhioLINK. The value in the article lies in the author's observance of various strength, weaknesses and concerns in consortial digital repositories. The author cites Raym Crow, Senior Consultant at SPARC, who notes

"Irrespective of scope, all the institutional repository projects so far have observed that the effort and organizational costs required to address repository policy, content management, and faculty marketing issues dwarf the technical implementation effort."

While technical implementation is considerable and such maintenance is ongoing, it is key to observe the massive benefits from adopting the policies of a consortia, or of using such policies as a point of departure. Among potential negatives noted: organizations in consortial repositories are unaligned with user interests, which tend to be topic-based rather than author, publisher, or institution-based; less-refined quality control and peer review; and potential issues in the privacy of certain administrative documents. The author concludes by considering a few final problems with consortial collections: revenue-generation and the lack of prestige in comparison to official institutional repositories. However, the author advises that consortial repositories have considerable strengths, while the current selection of mixed repositories (institutional, consortial, individual, etc.) may be the best of all possible worlds.

Ford, J.D., Ford, L.W., & D'Amelio, A. (2008). Resistance to change: The rest of the story. Academy of Management Review, 33(1), 362-377.

The authors argue that the dominant model describing resistance to change is inaccurate and lowers the rate of successful change initiatives. This dominant model characterizes all resistance as non-constructive and non-contributory to the change. This treats the change agent, the change itself, and the methods used as inherently correct; consequently regarding all resistance as unreasonable and incorrect. The authors very usefully reassess this model and examine ways in which the change agent may elicit and affect recipients' resistance through their own methods, how resistance may be contributory and reasonable to the change, and critically the role of the agent's sense-making in labeling certain recipient behaviors as either accepting or resistive of change. A key insight is that resistance is often the result of substantive cognitive assessments of the change proposal, and that such resistance is best dealt with through honest argument with the possibility of compromise and modification to the change. The authors also investigate how previous relations may affect recipient resistance. The piece is an excellent overview and reassessment of key factors in the success of an organizations change initiative.

Kleiner, A. (2003). Core groups: A theory of power and influence for "learning" organizations. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 16(6), 666-683.

Art Kleiner advances his core group theory (CGT). Kleiner argues that learning organizations seeking frequent and fluent change cannot succeed without first correctly identifying the power structure. CGT proposes that core groups stand "as the tangible, but fluid repositories of knowledge, influence and power in organizations" and are the real power structure of any organization. The core group can contain top-level members as well as mid- and low-level members, and its vision and prerogatives may coincide to varying degrees with the organization's officially stated goals. Kleiner argues from informal experience and interviews in the field that core group members become symbolic of the organization for other members because of their tangible affect on other employees. The core group members' reactions (satisfaction, dissatisfaction, success, frustration, etc.) therefore become key guides for the decision-making of all members of an organization. Because an organization is the sum of all its decisions, the core group therefore drives the organization, whether this is officially recognized or not. Kleiner therefore recommends that core groups keep close touch with non-members and maintain channels for new ideas outside the core group. The selection and expulsion of members from the core group (or groups) should be for constructive reasons that interest the whole organization. Interestingly, Kleiner finally extends the dominance of organizations, and the core groups from which they spring and empower to the national scene, suggesting that governance has become outmoded by organizations.

Creating an Institutional Repository: LEADIRS Workbook [pdf]

Recommended by DSpace as a cursory step to a full-fledged digital repository, this workbook seeks to provide a comprehensive, step-by-step guide to implementing a digital collection. Written by the Learning About Digital Repositories, the LEADIRS workbook covers aspects of planning (content organization, staff, service models, marketing, etc.), the selection of repository software platform (technology concerns, analysis of different offerings), policy development (relevant legislation, forming policy groups, intellectual property issues), and guidelines for assessing cost. Frequently samples are provided (of job descriptions when seeking new staff positions, policy documents, surveys) as well as worksheets to help users manage the scope of such a project. This is an extremely useful tool for managers charged with the implementation of a digital repository.

DRAMBORA Interactive

The Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment (DRAMBORA) is an internal audit toolkit based off the 2006-2007 pilot audits performed by the Digital Curation Centre. It is an interactive web site; one registers and follows the self-assessment sequentially. DRAMBORA frames a digital repository as a risk-management activity, where the prime risks are the unstable nature of digital objects themselves. This instability incorporates both the difficulty of assessing digital objects' authenticity as well as their understandability, or readability, over time. Auditors provide information on their organization such as mission statement, activities, holdings, etc., and through a six-stage process gradually assess their greatest areas of weakness and potential shortcomings in regards to their digital repository. As their site explains, DRAMBORA can be used in preparation for an external audit, to validate the effectiveness of the repository already in place, or to anticipate the needs and concerns of the organization before implementing a digital repository.