-Martin
---NINCH ANNOUNCMENT May 19, 1998
UK's CONSORTIUM OF UNIVERSITY RESEARCH LIBRARIES (CURL) Announces CEDARS: CURL Exemplars in Digital Archives <http://www.curl.ac.uk>
A new project furthering the development of strategies and best practices in proceeding with digital preservation in research libraries is the subject of the release below.
CEDARS is a new, leading JISC-funded digital preservation project of the British Consortium of University Research Libraries aiming to address "strategic, methodological and practical issues and to provide guidance for libraries in best practice for digital preservation."
David Green ===========
>From: "Kelly L. Russell" > >Date: Tue, 19 May 1998 13:21:19 GMT >Mime-Version: 1.0 >Subject: A New Project In Digital Archiving >Priority: normal >Status: >From: The Consortium of University Research Libraries (CURL)
>INTRODUCTION >In recent years university libraries have included a growing number of >digital information resources in their collections. At present there >is no legal obligation nor are there formal mechanisms for ensuring >that such digital information is preserved for posterity. As >libraries' reliance upon such resources increases, they become >stakeholders in ensuring that those resources are maintained over the >longer term. They are responsible for ensuring that these resources >may be as accessible to users in 10, 20 or 200 years time as they are >now. > >Just as academic libraries have an ongoing responsibility for the >preservation and access of paper-based resources, they now have a new >and more complex responsibility for digital resources. For digital >materials, unlike paper, a library continues to have responsibility >for ensuring long-term access to them irrespective of whether the >burden for physically preserving that resource falls directly to the >library or to a third party agency. For example in the case of an >electronic journal, a publisher might have the ultimate role of >preserving the physical digital object but the research library is >responsible for providing long term access to this material for its >researchers. > >The need to devise strategies for digital preservation is both >pressing and immediate and these strategies will need to encompass all >forms of digital information resources. > >DESCRIPTION >With these issues in mind the Cedars project aims to address >strategic, methodological and practical issues and will provide >guidance for libraries in best practice for digital preservation. >In the UK, CURL (The Consortium of University Research Libraries) is >uniquely placed to lead this project. Digital preservation is a key >issue for all its members. Under the overall direction of the CURL >Management Board, Cedars will be based across three lead sites >(Oxford, Leeds and Cambridge). Wider involvement from the community >will come through focus groups, workshops and discussion lists. >CEDARS is a three year project funded by the Joint Information >Systems Committee (JISC) through the Electronic Libraries Programme >(eLib). > >PROJECT OBJECTIVES >The project aims to investigate strategies which will ensure that the >digital information resources typically included in library >collections may, with other non-digital objects, be preserved over the >longer term. It order to achieve this aim the project plans to > >* promote awareness about the importance of digital preservation, >both amongst university libraries and their users, and amongst the >data creating and data supplying communities upon which they depend. > >* identify, document and disseminate strategic frameworks within which >individual libraries can develop collection management policies which >are appropriate to their needs and which can guide the necessary >decision-making to safeguard the long-term viability of any digital >resources which are included in their collections. > >*investigate, document and promote methods appropriate to the >long-term preservation of different classes of digital resources >typically included in library collections, and to develop costed and >scaleable models, There is an enormous range of digital resources >(e.g. text, sound, pictures, moving images). In focusing on the >following categories ,the project intends to identify techniques which >can be generalised and extended to the full range of digital >materials: > digitised primary resources > electronic journals > large online databases > electronic ephemera > digital resources in which the intellectual content in bound to > structure, form and behaviour > >In meeting its objectives, the project intends, wherever possible, to >make use of work that has already been done and to build upon existing >expertise in digital preservation and digital collection management. > >KEY DELIVERABLES >Key deliverables of the project include: > >*guidelines for developing collection management policies which will >ensure the long-term viability of any digital resources included in >the collection; > >*demonstrator projects to test and promote the technical and >organisational feasibility of a chosen strategy for digital >preservation; > >*methodological guidelines developed by the demonstrator projects >providing guidance about how to preserve different classes of digital >resources; > >*clearly articulated preferences about data formats, content models >and compression techniques which are most readily and cost-effectively >preserved; > >*publications of benefit to the whole higher education community, >available on the WWW > >WEB SITE: > >As project work evolves, all Cedars working papers and documentation >will be available at: > >Cedars Web Site: >http://www.curl.ac.uk > >So watch this space...... > >General information about the JISC Electronic Libraries Programme >(eLib) can be found at: > >http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/services/elib > >Information about JISC is available at: > >http://www.jisc.ac.uk > >CONTACT DETAILS >Kelly Russell >Cedars Project Manager >Edward Boyle Library >University of Leeds >Leeds LS2 9JT > > >Clare Jenkins >Cedars Project Director >BLPES >London School of Economics >10 Portugal Street >London, WC2A 2HD > >BACKGROUND >Many of the recommendations of the Follett Report1 related to ways in >which the use of information technology in the electronic library can >help to alleviate some of the problems of university libraries today. >The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) established the >Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib) as a direct response to the >Follett Report. The programme has a budget of about 15 million over >3 years, and its objectives include the use of IT to improve delivery >of information through increased use of electronic library services, >to allow academic libraries to cope better with growth, to explore >different models of intellectual property management and to encourage >new methods of scholarly publishing. Now in its third phase, eLib is >funding integration projects to build exemplar hybrid libraries (those >which provide access to both digital and non-digital materials) >including several Z39.50 pilot projects to link library catalogues. >Phase 3 will also directly address issues of concern for the long-term >preservation of and access to digital resources. > > >Kelly Russell >CEDARS Project Manager >Edward Boyle Library >The University of Leeds >Leeds LS2 9JT >