Preservation metadata is item level information that describes the context and structure of a digital object. It provides background details pertaining to a digital object's provenance, authenticity, and environment. Preservation
metadata
Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including:
* Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
, is a specific type of
metadata
Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including:
* Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
that works to maintain a digital object's viability while ensuring continued access by providing contextual information, usage details, and rights.
As an increasing portion of the world’s information output shifts from analog to digital form, preservation metadata is an essential component of most
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 and ...
strategies, including
digital curation Digital curation is the selection, preservation, maintenance, collection and archiving of digital assets.
Digital curation establishes, maintains and adds value to repositories of digital data for present and future use. This is often accomplished ...
,
data management
Data management comprises all disciplines related to handling data as a valuable resource.
Concept
The concept of data management arose in the 1980s as technology moved from sequential processing (first punched cards, then magnetic tape) to ...
, digital
collections management
Collections management involves the development, storage, and preservation of cultural property, as well as objects of contemporary culture (including contemporary art, literature, technology, and documents) in museums, libraries, archives and ...
and the preservation of digital information over the long-term. It is an integral part of the data lifecycle
and helps to document a digital object’s authenticity while maintaining usability across formats.
Definition of Preservation Metadata
Metadata surrounds and describes physical, digitized, and
born-digital
The term born-digital refers to materials that originate in a digital form.NDIIPP"Preserving Digital Culture,"Library of Congress. This is in contrast to digital reformatting, through which analog materials become digital, as in the case of file ...
information objects. Preservation metadata is external metadata related to a digital object created after a resource has been separated from its original creator,
with value-added.
The item-level data further stores technical details on the format, structure and uses of a digital resource, along with the history of all actions performed on the resource. These technical details include changes and decisions regarding digitization, migration to other formats, authenticity information such as technical features or custody history, and the rights and responsibilities information.
In addition, preservation metadata may include information on the physical condition of a resource.
Preservation metadata is dynamic, accessibility focused, and should provide the following information: details about files and instructions for use, documentation of all updates or actions that have been performed on an object, object provenance and details pertaining to current and future custody; details of the individual(s) who are responsible for the preservation of the object and changes made to it.
Components of Metadata
*
Provenance
Provenance (from the French ''provenir'', 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses i ...
: Who has had custody/ownership of the digital object?
*
Authenticity: Is the digital object what it purports to be?
*
Preservation activity: What has been done to preserve the digital object?
*
Technical environment: What is needed to render, interact with and use the digital object?
*
Rights management: What intellectual property rights must be observed?
Types of Metadata Creation
*
Automatic (internal)
*
Manual (often created by a specialist)
*
Created during digitization
*
User-contributed
Uses of Preservation Metadata
Digital materials require constant maintenance and migration to new formats to accommodate evolving technologies and varied user needs. In order to survive into the future, digital objects need preservation metadata that exists independently from the systems which were used to create them. Without preservation metadata, digital material will be lost. “While a print book with a broken spine can be easily re-bound, a digital object that has become corrupted or obsolete is often impossible (or prohibitively expensive) to repair”. Preservation metadata provides the vital information which will make “digital objects self-documenting across time.”
Data maintenance is considered a key piece of collections maintenance
by ensuring the availability of a resource over time, a concept detailed in the Reference Model for an
Open Archival Information System (OAIS). OAIS is a broad conceptual model which many organizations have followed in developing new preservation metadata element sets
and
Archival Information Packages (AIP).
Early projects in preservation metadata in the library community include CEDARS, NEDLIB, The National Library of Australia and the OCLC/RLG Working Group on Preservation Metadata.
The ongoing work of maintaining, supporting, and coordinating future revisions to the PREMIS Data Dictionary is undertaken by the PREMIS Editorial Committee, hosted by the
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 libra ...
.
Preservation metadata provides continuity and contributes to the validity and authenticity of a resource by providing evidence of changes, adjustments and migrations.
The importance of preservation metadata is further indicated by its required inclusion in many
Data Management Plans (DMPs) which are often key pieces of applications for grants and government funding.
Considered by the
National Information Standards Organization (NISO) to be a subtype of administrative metadata, preservation metadata is used to promote:
*
Interoperability
Interoperability is a characteristic of a product or system to work with other products or systems. While the term was initially defined for information technology or systems engineering services to allow for information exchange, a broader defi ...
* Digital object management
*
Preservation
Preservation may refer to:
Heritage and conservation
* Preservation (library and archival science), activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record while making as few changes as possible
* ''Preservation'' (magazine), published by the Nat ...
(often in conjunction with technical metadata)
Complications of Preservation Metadata
Concern over the poor management of digital objects notes the possibility of a “digital dark age”.
Many institutions, including the Digital Curation Center (DDC) and the
National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) are working to create access to digital objects while ensuring their continued viability. In the NDSA’s Version 1 of the Levels of Digital Preservation, preservation metadata is grouped under Level Four, or “Repair your metadata”, part of the macro preservation plan intended to make objects available over the long term.
The differing uses of digital resources across space, time and institutions requires that one object or set of information be accessible in a variety of formats, with the creation of new preservation metadata in each iteration.
Anne Gilliland notes that these variations create the need for wider data standards that can be used within and across industries that will then result in further use and interoperability.
The value of interoperability is further validated by the expense, both temporal and financial, of metadata creation.
The creation of preservation metadata by multiple users or institutions can complicate issues of ownership, access and responsibility.
Depending on an institution’s mission, it may be difficult or outside the scope of responsibility to perform preservation while providing access. Further research into cross-institutional collaboration may provide greater insight into where data should be stored, and who should be managing it.
Scholar
Maggie Fieldhouse
Maggie is a common short form of the name Magdalena, Magnolia, Margaret.
Maggie may refer to:
People
Women
* Maggie Adamson, Scottish musician
* Maggie Aderin-Pocock (born 1968), British scientist
* Maggie Alderson (born 1959), Aus ...
notes that the creation of metadata is shifting from collections managers to suppliers and publishers.
Jerome McDonough identifies the benefits of multiple partners collaborating to improve metadata records around an object with preservation metadata as a key in cross-institutional communication. Sheila Corrall notes that the creation and management of preservation metadata represents the intersection between
libraries
A library is a collection of Document, materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or electronic media, digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...
,
IT management and archival practice.
Developments in Preservation Metadata
Preservation metadata is a new and developing field. The
OAIS Reference Model is a broad conceptual model which many organizations have followed in developing new preservation metadata element sets.
Early projects in preservation metadata in the library community include CEDARS, NEDLIB, The National Library of Australia and the
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 wa ...
/RLG Working Group on Preservation Metadata.
The ongoing work of maintaining, supporting, and coordinating future revisions to the
PREMIS
PREservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) is the de facto digital preservation metadata standard.
Digital preservation metadata defines the information that is needed to ensure the long-term usability of digital objects to keep the ...
Data Dictionary is undertaken by the
PREMIS
PREservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) is the de facto digital preservation metadata standard.
Digital preservation metadata defines the information that is needed to ensure the long-term usability of digital objects to keep the ...
Editorial Committee, hosted by the
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 libra ...
.
ARCHANGEL
Recent developments in blockchain technology and the need for verifiable sources have led to the pilot program ARCHANGEL to use blockchain in the archival space.
See also
*
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 and ...
*
Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS)
*
Metadata
Metadata is "data that provides information about other data", but not the content of the data, such as the text of a message or the image itself. There are many distinct types of metadata, including:
* Descriptive metadata – the descriptive ...
*
Digital library
A digital library, also called an online library, an internet library, a digital repository, or a digital collection is an online database of digital objects that can include text, still images, audio, video, digital documents, or other digital ...
*
Content Management Systems
A content management system (CMS) is computer software used to manage the creation and modification of digital content (content management).''Managing Enterprise Content: A Unified Content Strategy''. Ann Rockley, Pamela Kostur, Steve Manning. New ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
External links
Australian National Data Services (ANDS) Data Sharing VerbsCapability Maturity Model for Scientific Data ManagementCEDARS (2000) "Metadata for Digital Preservation: The CEDARS Project Outline Specification"Controlled LOCKSSData Curation ProfilesData Documentation Initiative (DDI)DataONE Data LifecycleDublin Core Metadata Initiative Preservation CommunityDigital Curation Center (DCC) Digital Curation Lifecycle ModelJiscI2S2 Idealized Scientific Research Activity Lifecycle ModelLots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe (LOCKSS)Merritt RepositoryNational Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA)*
ttps://web.archive.org/web/20040717082954/http://www.natlib.govt.nz/files/4initiatives_metaschema.pdf National Library of New Zealand Metadata Standards Framework — Preservation MetadataNEDLIB (2000) "Metadata for Long Term Preservation"NISO Primer "Understanding Metadata"Portico*
ttps://www2.le.ac.uk/services/research-data/images/new_institution.PNG/view Research360 Institutional Research LifecycleUK Data Archive Data Lifecycle{{Cultural Conservation-Restoration , state=expanded
Digital preservation
Museology
Metadata
Preservation (library and archival science)
Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage
Content management systems