Digital preservation program at the Libraries

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Technological support levels

Technological support levels distinguish the broad levels of support effort the Libraries will use to address its stated objectives. Support effort and preservation strategy is guided by a number of appraisal criteria, including uniqueness, relative risk of loss, and feasibility/cost of preservation. Digital preservation staff, along with content experts, who understand the enduring value of content, in consultation with record analysts and system administrators, make these decisions. These are also documented in the Preservation Framework document.

Fundamental support level

Reasonable effort will be made to ensure long-term preservation for digital objects under this stewardship level. A moderate level of available resources (staff, technologies, funding) will be considered for use. Treatment strategies will be selected from widely available best practices and may include fixity, validation, geographic replication, and others as developed.

Advanced support level

All effort will be made to ensure long-term preservation for digital objects identified at this level. A high level of available resources (staff, technologies, funding) will be considered for use. In addition to the strategies under the fundamental support level, strategies here may also include migration, emulation, normalization, and the development of material-specific solutions.

Implementation activities

The University of Minnesota Libraries uses a variety of preservation actions based on general preservation strategies to be able to preserve digital materials for the long-term. The Libraries’ Digital Preservation Framework document describes two technological support levels. These levels assume a continuum of actions from less to more as the support level increases. This page discusses the continuum of preservation actions performed by the Libraries.

The implementation activities describe actions the Libraries take with digital materials around storage, security, file integrity, interoperability over time, and chain of custody of materials. Each activity is done to help mitigate a specific risk.

Fundamental preservation actions

All materials receive the following:

Preservation Element Actions Taken Risks Mitigated
Storage
  • One local copy (secondary copy) of the data is stored separately from the Libraries primary copy
  • One remote copy stored at a separate geographical location, preferably on a different system (such as tape)
  • Loss of data, including loss of use across all local systems.
Integrity
  • Fixity checks created at time of receipt (if not received with objects)
  • Fixity checked when content is moved from one location to another
  • Fixity is periodically checked on at rest items [set periodically]
  • Corrupted items will be corrected from non-corrupt copies
  • Provenance of objects will be documented and traced as appropriate
  • Objects protected against bit-rot (media corruption) and accidental changes.
  • Objects will be traceable back to their source, to verify authenticity.
Security
  • Virus checking on all received materials
  • Limited access to main preservation storage area
  • Monitor and audit and document who has read and read/write access to the primary and secondary storage locations.
  • Workflows will use authorizations and document the chain-of-custody of people/roles allowed to perform tasks such as ingest, storage, and edits.
  • Prevent corruption of data via viruses and unauthorized changes or unauthorized access to the data.
  • Provide a chain-of-custody and a history of actions as proof of due diligence.
Interpretability over time
  • Metadata: technical metadata about the items will be generated and preserved alongside the items
  • Identification: format(s) of items will be identified if possible
  • Validation: the conformance of the identifiable item to the format specification will be validated and recorded, if possible
  • Formats at risk: the data owners will be warned when their data is preserved in an at-risk format, if possible
  • Attempt to maintain the ability to recover and understand the preserved items at a later date.
  • Prevent loss of comprehensibility caused by changing standards and technologies over time.
Succession
  • Owners have the right to grant the Libraries permission to preserve and/or provide access to the materials.
  • Libraries has the permission to preserve the materials over time including using file format migration
  • Ensure chain-of-custody and management of preserved assets over long periods of time.

Advanced preservation actions

In addition, some materials receive:

Preservation Element Actions Taken Risks Mitigated
Storage
  • A third copy stored offsite (most likely on tape)
  • Loss of data, including loss of use across all local systems.
Integrity
  • Audit logs of corruption and remediation events will be gathered and made available in reports, if possible
  • Objects protected against bit-rot (media corruption) and accidental changes.
  • Objects will be traceable back to their source, to verify authenticity.
Interoperability
  • Format migrations may be completed on a case-by-case basis
  • Software/system environment may be preserved to aid in recoverability of data
  • Attempt to maintain the ability to recover and understand the preserved items at a later date.
  • Prevent loss of comprehensibility caused by changing standards and technologies over time.

Contact us

If you have any questions about digital preservation at the University of Minnesota Libraries please contact the digital preservation team at lib-dp@umn.edu and we will be happy to assist you.

Last Updated: Dec 1, 2023 8:36 AM