An Open Archival Information System (or OAIS) is an
archive
An archive is an accumulation of historical records or materials – in any medium – or the physical facility in which they are located.
Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or ...
, consisting of an organization of people and systems, that has accepted the responsibility to preserve
information
Information is an abstract concept that refers to that which has the power to inform. At the most fundamental level information pertains to the interpretation of that which may be sensed. Any natural process that is not completely random ...
and make it available for a
Designated Community.
The OAIS model can be applied to various archives, e.g., open access, closed, restricted, “dark”, or proprietary.
The term OAIS also refers, by extension, to the
ISO OAIS Reference Model ''for'' an OAIS. This reference model is defined by recommendatio
CCSDS 650.0-B-2of the
Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) was founded in 1982 for governmental and quasi-governmental space agencies to discuss and develop standards for space data and information systems. Currently composed of "eleven member agenc ...
;
this text is identical t
= 57284 ISO 14721:2012 The CCSDS's purview is space agencies, but the OAIS model it developed has proved useful to other organizations and institutions with digital archiving needs. OAIS, known as ISO 14721:2003, is widely accepted and utilized by various organizations and disciplines, both national and international, and was designed to ensure preservation. The OAIS standard, published in 2005, is considered the optimum standard to create and maintain a digital repository over a long period of time.
The information being maintained has been deemed to need "long term preservation," even if the OAIS itself is not permanent. "Long term" is long enough to be concerned with the impacts of changing technologies, including support for new
media and data formats, or with a changing user community. "Long term" may extend indefinitely. The OAIS defines a long period of time as any length of time that might be impacted by changing technologies and the changing of “Designated Community,” e.g., any group of consumers capable of understanding the information. This length of time can be indefinite. The archive defines the community and that definition is not fixed.
The “O” in OAIS represents the “open way the standard was developed,” and does not represent “
open access
Open access (OA) is a set of principles and a range of practices through which research outputs are distributed online, free of access charges or other barriers. With open access strictly defined (according to the 2001 definition), or libre op ...
”,
or the usage of the term open in the
Open Definition
The Open Definition is a document published by the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) (previously Open Knowledge International) to define openness in relation to data and content. It specifies what licences for such material may and may not stipula ...
or
Open Archives Initiative
The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) was an informal organization, in the circle around the colleagues Herbert Van de Sompel, Carl Lagoze, Michael L. Nelson and Simeon Warner, to develop and apply technical interoperability standards for archives t ...
. The “I” in OAIS represents “information,” meaning data that can be shared or exchanged.
In this reference model there is a particular focus on digital information, both as the primary forms of information held and as supporting information for both digitally and physically archived materials. Therefore, the model accommodates information that is inherently non-digital (e.g., a physical
sample), but the modeling and preservation of such information is not addressed in detail. As strictly a conceptual framework, the OAIS model does not require the use of any particular computing platform, system environment, system design paradigm, system development methodology, database management system, database design paradigm, data definition language, command language, system interface, user interface, technology, or media for an archive to be compliant. Its aim is to set the standard for the activities that are involved in preserving a digital archive rather than the method for carrying out those activities.
The acronym OAIS should not be confused with OAI, which is the
Open Archives Initiative
The Open Archives Initiative (OAI) was an informal organization, in the circle around the colleagues Herbert Van de Sompel, Carl Lagoze, Michael L. Nelson and Simeon Warner, to develop and apply technical interoperability standards for archives t ...
.
The reference model
The reference model:
* provides a
framework for the understanding and increased awareness of archival concepts needed for long term digital information preservation and access.
* provides the concepts needed by non-archival organizations to be effective participants in the preservation process.
* provides a framework, including
terminology
Terminology is a group of specialized words and respective meanings in a particular field, and also the study of such terms and their use; the latter meaning is also known as terminology science. A ''term'' is a word, compound word, or multi-wor ...
and concepts, for describing and comparing architectures and operations of existing and future archives.
* provides a framework for describing and comparing different long term preservation strategies and techniques.
* provides a basis for comparing the data models of digital information preserved by Archives and for discussing how data models and the underlying information may change over time.
* provides a foundation that may be expanded by other efforts to cover long-term preservation of information that is ''not'' in digital form (e.g., physical media and physical samples).
* expands consensus on the elements and processes for long-term digital information preservation and access, and promotes a larger market which vendors can support.
* guides the identification and production of OAIS-related standards.
Requirements of the system
The reference model (
ISO 14721:2003) includes the following responsibilities that an OAIS archive must abide by:
*Negotiate for and accept appropriate information from information Producers.
*Obtain sufficient control of the information provided to the level needed to ensure Long-Term Preservation.
*Determine, either by itself or in conjunction with other parties, which communities should become the Designated Community and, therefore, should be able to understand the information provided.
*Ensure that the information to be preserved is Independently Understandable to the Designated Community. In other words, the community should be able to understand the information without needing the assistance of the experts who produced the information.
*Follow documented policies and procedures which ensure that the information is preserved against all reasonable contingencies, and which enable the information to be disseminated as authenticated copies of the original, or as traceable to the original.
*Make the preserved information available to the Designated Community.
The OAIS environment and information model
![OAIS Information Package (en)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/OAIS_Information_Package_%28en%29.svg)
The OAIS environment involves the interaction of four entities: producers of information, consumers of information (or the
designated community), management, and the archive itself. The management component of the OAIS environment is not an entity that carries out day-to-day maintenance of an archive but a person or group that sets policies for the content contained in the archive.
The OAIS model also defines an information model. Physical or digital items which contain information are known as data objects. Members of the Designated Community for an archive should be able to interpret and understand the information contained in a data object either because of their established knowledge base or with the assistance of supplementary "representation information" that is included with the data object.
An information package includes the following information objects:
* Content Information: this includes the data object and its representation information
* Preservation Description Information: contains information necessary to preserve its affiliated content information (such as information about the item's provenance, unique identifiers, a
Checksum
A checksum is a small-sized block of data derived from another block of digital data for the purpose of detecting errors that may have been introduced during its transmission or storage. By themselves, checksums are often used to verify data ...
or other authentication data, etc.)
* Packaging Information: holds the components of the information package together
* Descriptive Information: metadata about the object which allows the object to be located at a later time using the archive's search or retrieval functions
There are three types of information package in the OAIS reference model:
* Submission Information Package (SIP): which is the information sent from the producer to the archive
* Archival Information Package (AIP): which is the information stored by the archive
* Dissemination Information Package (DIP): which is the information sent to a user when requested
These three information packages may or may not be identical to each other.
The functional model
![OAIS Functional Model (en)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/OAIS_Functional_Model_%28en%29.svg)
There are six functional entities in an OAIS:
* Ingest function: receives information from producers and packages it for storage. It accepts a SIP, verifies it, creates an AIP from the SIP, and transfers the newly created AIP to archival storage
* Archival Storage function: stores, maintains, and retrieves AIPs. It accepts AIPs submitted from the Ingest function, assigns them to long term storage, migrates AIPs as needed, checks for errors, and provides requested AIPs to the Access function
* Data Management function: coordinates the Descriptive Information of the AIPs and the system information that supports the archive. It maintains the database that contains the archive's information by executing query requests and generating results; generates reports in support of other functions; and updates the database.
* Administration function: manages the daily operations of the archive. This function attains submission agreements from information producers, performs system engineering, audits SIPs to ensure compliance with submission agreements, develops policies and standards. It handles customer service and acts as the interface between Management and the Designated Community in the OAIS environment.
* Preservation Planning function: supports all tasks to keep the archive material accessible and understandable over long terms even if the original computing system becomes obsolete, e.g. development of detailed preservation/migration plans, technology watch, evaluation and risk analysis of content and recommendation of update and migration.
* Access function: This function includes the user interface that allows users to retrieve information from the archive. It generates a DIP from the relevant AIP and delivers it to the customer who has requested the information.
Adoption
Although originally developed by the
Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) was founded in 1982 for governmental and quasi-governmental space agencies to discuss and develop standards for space data and information systems. Currently composed of "eleven member agenc ...
, a body dedicated to overseeing space agencies, as
digital preservation
In library and archival science, digital preservation is a formal endeavor to ensure that digital information of continuing value remains accessible and usable. It involves planning, resource allocation, and application of preservation methods an ...
has become a discipline unto itself, the OAIS has become the standard model for digital preservation systems at many institutions and organizations. OAIS-compliance has been a stated fundamental design requirement for major digital preservation and repository development efforts at the
National Archives and Records Administration
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
,
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
,
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
,
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Bibliothèque nationale de France (, 'National Library of France'; BnF) is the national library of France, located in Paris on two main sites known respectively as ''Richelieu'' and ''François-Mitterrand''. It is the national repository ...
,
National Library of the Netherlands
The Royal Library of the Netherlands (Dutch: Koninklijke Bibliotheek or KB; ''Royal Library'') is the national library of the Netherlands, based in The Hague, founded in 1798. The KB collects everything that is published in and concerning the Ne ...
, the
Digital Curation Centre
The Digital Curation Centre (DCC) was established to help solve the extensive challenges of digital preservation
In library and archival science, digital preservation is a formal endeavor to ensure that digital information of continuing value ...
in the UK,
OCLC
OCLC, Inc., doing business as OCLC, See also: is an American nonprofit cooperative organization "that provides shared technology services, original research, and community programs for its membership and the library community at large". It was ...
(the Online Computer Library Center), the
JSTOR
JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...
(Journal Storage) scholarly journal archive, as well as several university library systems. Centre of Excellence for Digital Preservation,
C-DAC, India has implemented OAIS for National Cultural Audiovisual Archive (NCAA) which has been certified as Trusted Digital Repository as per ISO 16363: 2012 during November 2017. This initiative was a part of Indian
National Digital Preservation Program (NDPP). The OAIS has been the basis of numerous prominent digital preservation initiatives and standards including the
Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies working group and the
Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification
Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC) is a document describing the metrics of an OAIS-compliant digital repository that developed from work done by the OCLC/ RLG Programs and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) task ...
(TRAC) document from OCLC. which was an initial draft of, and subsequently superseded by, CCSDS 652.1-M-2 of the
Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
The Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS) was founded in 1982 for governmental and quasi-governmental space agencies to discuss and develop standards for space data and information systems. Currently composed of "eleven member agenc ...
;
this text is identical t
ISO 16363:2012which forms the basis of the ISO audit and certification of Trustworthy Repositories, more details about which are availabl
here The ISO 19165:1-2018 recommends the use of the
Open Packaging Conventions
The Open Packaging Conventions (OPC) is a container-file technology initially created by Microsoft to store a combination of XML and non-XML files that together form a single entity such as an Open XML Paper Specification (OpenXPS) document. OPC-b ...
to implement the Geospatial Package.
Software architecture model
As part o
#WeMissiPres Frank Obermeit, a computer scientist at th
State Archives of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany presented
a software architecture model that fully implements the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) reference model on 22 September 2020. An appliance developed on the architecture model has been available since October 2020. The architecture model is based exclusively on de facto and de jure standards and the appliance developed according to it was realised exclusively with open source products. The three main standards are
Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN),
Representational State Transfer (REST) and
OpenID Connect (OIDC). Scalability, distributability and extensibility are further essential features and enable the use in organisations of different sizes.
See also
*
Data curation Data curation is the organization and integration of data collected from various sources. It involves annotation, publication and presentation of the data such that the value of the data is maintained over time, and the data remains available for re ...
*
Digital preservation
In library and archival science, digital preservation is a formal endeavor to ensure that digital information of continuing value remains accessible and usable. It involves planning, resource allocation, and application of preservation methods an ...
*
National Digital Library Program
The Library of Congress National Digital Library Program (NDLP) is assembling a digital library of reproductions of primary source materials to support the study of the history and culture of the United States. Begun in 1995 after a five-year p ...
(NDLP)
*
(NDIIPP)
*
CASPAR digital preservation project
The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europea ...
*
Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification
Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC) is a document describing the metrics of an OAIS-compliant digital repository that developed from work done by the OCLC/ RLG Programs and National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) task ...
*
National Digital Preservation Program (NDPP), India
References
{{reflist
Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System(OAIS), Recommended Practice, CCSDS 650.0-M-2 (Magenta Book) Issue 2, June 2012
= 580 Work co-ordinated by RLG and NARAon standard(s) for accreditation of archives.
Consultative Committee for Space Data SystemsISO 19165-1:2018 Geographic information -- Preservation of digital data and metadata -- Part 1: Fundamentals
Reference models
Online archives
Archival science
Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems
Digital preservation