Refactoring and Reframing Collecting in a Digital Age or staring into the abyss.

Michael Moss

Living Information – TNA vision for the future

• Increasingly, people expect to find, use and learn from information online. They expect it to be personalised and connected to their wider lives. They expect to have it immediately.

• We need to rise to the new challenge of ensuring the survival of digital information for future generations, in addition to preserving the nation’s existing paper records.

Archives for the 21st Century3. Digital Preservation

• The risk of a “black hole in history” is avoided through effective digital record-keeping

• The capability and capacity of the archives sector to preserve and provide access to digital records is enhanced

• Users have improved access to collections to support research, learning and enjoyment

4. Online access and collection development

Goals • The audience for archival information is

broadened and enlarged, and users have access to the archival resources they need and want

• Institutions are increasingly able to make information about their collections available to the public and thereby unlock their potential

• Archives have the capacity and appropriate facilities to collect material of long-term value in all formats from relevant organisations and individuals

Actions under 3 and 4

• Develop partnerships for the delivery of digital preservation to ensure access to the capability, with the support of The National Archives.

• Develop large-scale commercial digitisation projects with the support of archival institutions.

Digital preservation v Digitization

• Not one and the same thing.

• Costs formidable

• Digital preservation essential to avoid the black hole

• But . . . Is it not as much a matter of re-establishing process lost in the digital age?

Jonathan Powell

A. Yes, I thought I might be asked that question because it may seem odd to people from outside, so I looked through the diary for the two weeks of the period we are talking about and the usual pattern is about three written records for 17 meetings a day is sort of the average you get to because there is no purpose served by minutes unless they are either recording people visiting from outside, the president of Nigeria, or something like that, or if they are action points that need to be taken forward, something on school funding for example.

The activities of their department seemed to be shrouded in mystery – something to do with records or filing, it was thought, nobody knew for certain, but it was evidently ‘women’s work’ the kind of thing that could easily be replaced by a computer

The Information Agenda

• It is where the money (such as there is) will be.

• It must contribute to the bottom line and not simply be an added cost.

• Involves interaction with other professionals – risk managers, hr, auditors, ICT.

• KIM is an evolving discipline.

Accessioning digital content

• Different from analogue

• Harvesting web pages

• Ingesting

• No one will add metadata unless it adds value

• Traditional cataloguing impractical

• Sensitivity review?

Digitization and digital access

• Transforming research and scholarship• Catalogue

• Books• Manuscripts

• Progress differential at national and local level.

• Issues of granularity – the genealogical imperative.

• Overburdening the catalogue.

Digitization

• Progress differential

• The genealogical imperative

• Sustainability– maintenance– Not like analogue publishing – expectation

they will be dynamic

• NOF Digitize – 150 projects £50 million

NOF Digitize

A fairly recent survey by Alastair Dunning at JISC revealed that most of this content still exists, but effectively in a state of suspended animation, without investment or manpower to bring it to its intended audience. 2009

Digital content

• There is much more to this than creating a digitization service or a preservation strategy.

• Sustainability gap.

• The party is over – few grants.

• Revenue streams – the punters are going to have to pay much more.

Into the Unknown

• These are competing agendas for archives and special collections.

• It is going to be very very tough.• The digital makes it even tougher.• Special collections are largely a

humanities resource and libraries have much wider constituencies.

• Even before the cuts budgets were under enormous pressure.

Bigger, better and sustainable services

• Mergers – Hull History Centre.

• Partnerships, particularly for digital preservation.

• Agreed national and even EU strategies that are federal in outlook.

• Greater use of volunteers.

• Acceptance of higher charges.

Avoid the gulag - Existing business models will not work.

• Plan for the worst and if it turns out better then you feel good.

• Co-operate and collaborate.• In the UK need for leadership now the

MLA has been abolished.• Need for a strong unified voice that

straddles competing agendas.• There are too many bodies with

stakeholder interests in the digital.