Instructor:  Karen F. Gracy
Office: SIS 657
Phone:  (412) 624-7679
E-mail:  kgracy@pitt.edu

Office Hours: Mondays, 1-4 p.m. 

Purpose and Course Objectives

We will be learning about sustaining text, images, data, sound, and other genres of information using digital technologies for preservation and access.  The course will cover digitization of analog materials as part of a preservation program, as well as methods for preserving "born-digital" materials.  Particular topics to be explored in depth include:  selection for preservation, copyright issues, digital longevity, formats and strategies for preservation, metadata to support digital preservation, maintaining the integrity and authenticity of digital materials, management of digitization and digitial preservation programs, risk management, and disaster recovery.
 

Course Requirements

• Mandatory class attendance.  Important:  Students who miss 3 or more class meetings will fail this course.
• Participation in class discussion (30% of final grade).  Please come to class prepared to discuss the readings.
• Timely completion of all assignments (a late assignment will be marked down 1/2 grade for each day it is turned in past the due date, unless prior arrangements have been made with the instructor).
• In consideration of the instructor and your fellow students ...  Please turn off all electronic devices (cell phones, pagers, and PDAs) while class is in session.  Use of your cell phone while class is in session (including allowing it to ring) will result in a lowered participation grade for that class session.  If you will be using a laptop to take notes, please adjust the volume setting so that you do not disturb others.  Thank you.
  

Assignments

1. Weekly Class Participation (30% of final grade; ongoing)
   
2. Short Paper on Digital Longevity Issues  (10% of final grade; due Feb. 5th)
3. Case Study  (Medium-length paper, 10-12 pages; 30% of final grade; paper topic due Mar. 11th, final paper due, Apr. 15th)
4. Examination on Key Concepts (30% of final grade; take-home, due Apr. 22nd)
    

Please carefully proofread your assignments for accuracy in spelling and grammatical construction—such errors do play a part in your grade, particularly if they affect the instructor’s ability to understand the content or import of your writing.

Failure to complete any of the three written assignments will result in a failing grade in the course.

Also, please familiarize yourself with the School of Information Science’s Guidelines on Academic Integrity, found at: http://www2.sis.pitt.edu/~wadmin/academics/information/sisacint.html.  It is the student’s responsibility to carefully document his or her work using the appropriate style of citation.  Be aware that plagiarism will not be tolerated and will result in a failing grade in this course.
 

Required Texts
 

Maxine K. Sitts, ed., Handbook for Digital Projects:  A Management Tool for Preservation and Access,  1st ed. (Andover, MA:  Northeast Document Conservation Center, 2000).  Abbreviated as HDP throughout syllabus.  Available online at: http://www.nedcc.org/digital/dman.pdf   

Anne R. Kenney and Oya Y. Rieger, Moving Theory into Practice:  Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives (Mountain View, CA:  Research Libraries Group, 2000).  Abbreviated as MTP throughout syllabus.  On reserve.  Z 681.3 D53M68 2000
 

Accommodations

Students with disabilities who require special testing accommodations or other classroom modifications should notify the instructor and the office of Disability Resources & Services (DRS) no later than the 3rd week of the term.  Students may be asked to provide documentation of their disability to determine the appropriateness of the request.  DRS is located in 216 William Pitt Union and can be contacted at 412-648-7890 (voice), 412-624-3346 (fax), and (412) 383-7355 (TTY).

Students who must miss an exam or class due to religious observance must notify the instructor ahead of time and make alternative arrangements.
 

Schedule for the Course
 

Week	Date	Topic/Activity
1	Jan. 8	Film:  Into the Future:  On the Preservation of Knowledge in the Electronic Age Instructor at ALISE Conference
2	Jan. 15	Introduction to the course, including review of syllabus and assignments Unit 1:  Overview of the Problems Associated with Digital Longevity              ~Physical Properties of Digital Media (including drives needed to play media)              ~Compatibility of Obsolete and Current Hardware and Software Formats              ~Keeping the Pieces of Complex Digital Objects Together
3	Jan. 22	Unit 1 (cont.):  Overview of the Problems Associated with Digital Longevity              ~Cracking the Code to Digital Encryption and Compression Schemes:  Who Keeps the Key?              ~Who's Responsible for Preserving Digital Material?              ~Document Stability and Authenticity
4	Jan. 29	Unit 2:  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term              ~Why Digitize?  A Rationale for Digitization as a Tool for Preservation and Access              ~Digitization vs. Other Reformatting Options:  Picking the Right Tool for Preservation
5	Feb. 5	Short Paper on Digital Longevity Issues Due Unit 2:  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term              ~Reformatting for Access with Preservation in Mind                 —Digital Imaging of Text and Photographic Images                 —Digitizing Temporal Media (Sound, Film, and Video)                 —Digitizing Graphic Materials
6	Feb. 12	Unit 2 (cont.):  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term                         ~Appraisal Decisions:  Selecting Material for Digitization                            —Informational Value vs. Artificatual Value vs. Evidential Value                            —Costs of Digitization                            —Copyright Status
7	Feb. 19	Unit 2 (cont.):  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term                         ~Documenting Decisions through the Use of Preservation Metadata                           —Open Archival Information System (OAIS)                           —CEDARS                           —OCLC/RLG                           —Metadata Encoding Transmission System (METS)                           —MPEG-7, MPEG-21
8	Feb. 26	Unit 2 (cont.):  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term                         ~Project Management                         ~Quality Control
9	Mar. 4	Unit 2 (cont.):  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term                         ~Case Studies in the Management of Digitization Projects                         ~Sustaining Digital Initiatives for the Long-Term
	Mar. 11	No class (Spring Break)
10	Mar. 18	Topic for Case Study Due Unit 3 (cont.):  Maintaining Digital Resources Over Time                        ~Strategies for Digital Preservation                          —Refreshing                          —Migration                          —Encapsulation                          —Emulation                          —Digital Archaeology
11	Mar. 25	Unit 3 (cont.):  Maintaining Digital Resources Over Time                         ~Authenticity of Digital Objects and Records                         ~Risk Management                         ~Trusted Digital Repositories
12	Apr. 1	Unit 3 (cont.):  Maintaining Digital Resources Over Time                         ~Recent Research on the Management of Digital Preservation and Electronic Records Projects                            —INTERPARES (International P Authentic R                            —NDIIPP (National Digital Information Infrastructure Preservation Project)                            —Knowledge-Based Persistant Archives (San Diego Supercomputer Center)                         ~Case Studies in Digital Preservation                            —Data File Preservation at Yale                            —Electronic Scholarly Journals                            —Digital Asset Management at WGBH
13	Apr. 8	Unit 3 (cont.):  Maintaining Digital Resources Over Time                         ~External Factors Influencing Digital Preservation and Access                            —Legal                            —Economic                            —Sociocultural                            —Political                            —Technical Review for Examination (Take-Home Exam Distributed)
14	Apr. 15	Case Study due Reports on Case Studies
Finals Week	Apr. 22	Examination due

 

Readings
 

January 8th:  

Film:  Into the Future:  On the Preservation of Knowledge in the Electronic Age
Instructor at ALISE Conference

This week, please familiarize yourself with the following online resources:

CAMiLEON (Creative Archiving at Michigan and Leeds Emulating the Old on the New), http://www.si.umich.edu/CAMILEON/

Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR), http://www.clir.org

D-Lib Magazine, http://www.dlib.org/

Digital Library Federation (DLF), http://www.diglib.org

Digital Preservation Coalition, http://www.dpconline.org

InterPARES (International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems), http://www.interpares.org/

National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation program, http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/ndiipp/

Katharina Klemperer and Stephen Chapman, “Digital Libraries:  A Selected Resource Guide,” Information Technology and Libraries 16.3 (Sept. 1997).  Available online at:  http://www.lita.org/ital/1603_klemperer.htm

Preserving Access to Digital Information (PADI), http://www.nla.gov.au/padi/

Research Libraries Group, RLG DigiNews, http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/

Glossaries:

Howard Besser and Jennifer Trant, Introduction to Imaging, Glossary, available online at:  http://www.getty.edu/research/institute/standards/introimages/

The CEDARS Project, “Working Definitions of Commonly Used Terms (for the purposes of the Cedars Project),” available online at:  http://www.leeds.ac.uk/cedars/documents/PSW01.htm

M. Stuart Lynn and the Technology Assessment Advisory Committee to the Commission on Preservation and Access, “Preservation and Access Technology:  The Relationship Between Digital and Other Media Conversion Processes—A Structured Glossary of Technical Terms” (Aug. 1990).  Available online at http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/byauth/lynn/glossary

January 15th:

Introduction to the Course, Including Review of Syllabus and Assignments

Unit 1:  Overview of the Problems Associated with Digital Longevity
             
                 ~Physical Properties of Digital Media (including drives needed to play media)
                 ~Compatibility of Obsolete and Current Hardware and Software Formats
                 ~Keeping the Pieces of Complex Digital Objects Together
                

Readings:

Howard Besser, "Digital Longevity" (HDP)

Clifford Lynch, “The Integrity of Digital Information:  Mechanics and Definitional Issues,” JASIS (Dec. 1994):  737-44.  On reserve.

Fred R. Byers, Care and Handling of CDs and DVDs:  A Guide for Librarians and Archivists (Washington, D.C.:  Council on Library and Information REsources, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2003).  Available online at:  http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub121/pub121.pdf

John W.C. Van Bogart, Magnetic Tape Storage and Handling:  A Guide for Libraries and Archives (Commission on Preservation and Access, 1995).  On reserve.  Z 692 M25V35 1995

Gregory W. Lawrence, et al., Risk Management of Digital Information: A File Format Investigation, (CLIR Report, June 2000).  Available online at: http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub93/pub93.pdf

January 22nd:

Unit 1 (cont.):  Overview of the Problems Associated with Digital Longevity

                 ~Cracking the Code to Digital Encryption and Compression Schemes:  Who Keeps the Key?
                 ~Who's Responsible for Preserving Digital Material?
                 ~Document Stability and Authenticity

Readings:

James M. O'Toole, "On the Idea of Permanence," American Archivist 52 (1989):  10-25.  On reserve.

David M. Levy, Scrolling Forward:  Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age, 1st ed. (New York:  Arcade, 2001). Chapter 3, 8 (pp. 39-58, 137-157).  On reserve.  P 214 .L48 2001

William Mitchell, The Reconfigured Eye:  Visual Truth in the Post-Photographic Era (Cambridge, MA:  MIT Press, 1992).  pp. 1-85.  On reserve.  TA 1632 M55 1992

January 29th:

Unit 2:  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term
             ~Why Digitize?  A Rationale for Digitization as a Tool for Preservation and Access
             ~Digitization vs. Other Reformatting Options:  Picking the Right Tool for Preservation

Readings:

Paul Conway, “Overview:  Rationale for Digitization and Preservation” (HDP)

Abby Smith, Why Digitize? (CLIR Report, Feb. 1999).  Available online at:  http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub80-smith/pub80.html

Harmut Weber and Marianne Dörr, Digitization as a Means of Preservation?   European Commission on Preservation and Access (CLIR Report, October 1997).  Available online at:  http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/digpres/digpres.html.

February 5th:

Short Paper on Digital Longevity Issues Due

Unit 2:  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term
             ~Reformatting for Access with Preservation in Mind
                —Digital Imaging of Text and Photographic Images
                —Digitizing Temporal Media (Sound, Film, and Video)
                —Digitizing Graphic Materials

Readings:

Steven Puglia, "Technical Primer" (HDP)

Anne R. Kenney and Stephen Chapman, Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives (Ithaca, NY: Dept. of Preservation and Conservation, Cornell University Library, 1996).  Chapter 1.  On reserve.  Z 681.3 D53K36 1996

Stephen Chapman and Anne R. Kenney, "Digital Conversion of Research Library Materials:  A Case for Full Informational Capture," (CLIR Report, Oct. 1996).  Available online at:  http://www.dlib.org/dlib/october96/cornell/10chapman.html.

Franziska Frey and James M. Reilly, Digital Imaging for Photographic Collections: Foundations for Technical Standards (Image Permanence Institute, 1999).  Available online at: http://www.rit.edu/~661www1/sub_pages/digibook.pdf

Council on Library and Information Resources and Digital Library Foundation, Guides to Quality in Visual Resource Imaging (July 2000), available online at: http://www.rlg.org/visguides/

Carl Fleischhauer, "Audio and Video Preservation Reformatting:  A Library of Congress Perspective" (2003), http://www.archives.gov/preservation/conferences/papers_2003/fleischauer.html

Library of Congress Audio-Visual Prototyping Project, "Typical Elements for Use in a Statement of Work for the Digial Conversion of Sound Recordings and Related Documents" (1999), http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/mopic/avprot/audioSOW.html

February 12th:

Unit 2 (cont.):  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term
                        ~Appraisal Decisions:  Selecting Material for Digitization
                           —Informational Value vs. Artifactual Value vs. Evidential Value
                           —Costs of Digitization
                           —Copyright Status

Readings:

James O’Toole, “On the Idea of Uniqueness,” American Archivist 57 (Fall 1994):  632-58.  On reserve.

Paula de Stefano, “Selection for Digital Conversion” (MTP)

Diane Voigt-O’Connor, “Selection of Materials for Scanning” (HDP)

Dan Hazen, Jeffrey Horrell, Jan Merrill-Oldham, Selecting Research Collections for Digitization (CLIR Report, Aug. 1998).  Available online at http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/hazen/pub74.html

Melissa Smith Levine, “Overview of Legal Issues for Digitization” (HDP)

Steven Puglia, “The Costs of Digital Imaging Projects,” RLG DigiNews 3.5 (Oct. 15, 1999), available online at:  http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews3-5.htm

February 19th:

Unit 2 (cont.):  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term
                        ~Documenting Decisions through the Use of Preservation Metadata
                          —Open Archival Information System (OAIS)
                          —CEDARS
                          —OCLC/RLG
                          —Metadata Encoding Transmission System (METS)
                          —MPEG-7, MPEG-21

Readings:

Carl Lagoze and Sandra Payette, “Metadata:  Principles, Practices, and Challenges,” (MTP)

Michael Day, "Resource Discovery, Interoperability, and Digital Preservation:  Some Aspects of Current Metadata Research and Development," VINE 117 (2000):  35-48.  Available online at:   http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/publications/vine-117/

OCLC/RLG Working Group on Preservation Metadata, "Preservation Metadata and the OAIS Information Model:  A Metadata Framework to Support the Preservation of Digital Objects" (June 2002),  available online at:   http://www.oclc.org/research/pmwg/pm_framework.pdf

Ann Green, JoAnn Dionne, and Martin Dennis, Preserving the Whole:  A Two-Track Approach to Rescuing Social Science Data and Metadata (CLIR Report, June 1999).  Available online at:  http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub83/contents.html

Brian Lavoie, "Meeting the Challenges of Digital Preservation:  The OAIS Reference Model," OCLC Newsletter (Jan./Feb. 2000):  26-30.  Available online at:   http://www2.oclc.org/oclc/pdf/news243.pdf

L. J. Smart, "OAIS, METS, MPEG-21 and Archival Values," The Moving Image 2.1 (2002): 107-129. On reserve.

Same Searle and Dave Thompson, "Preservation Metadata:  Pragmatic First Steps at the National Library of New Zealand," D-Lib Magazine (April 2003), http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april03/thompson/04thompson.html

Skim:

    Metadata Resources, http://www.ifla.org/II/metadata.htm

    Dublin Core, http://purl.oclc.org/metadata/dublin_core

    Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS), http://www.w3.org/PICS/

    Resource Description Framework (RDF), http://www.w3.org/RDF/Overview.html

    Metadata Encoding & Transmission Standard (METS), http://www.loc.gov/standards/mets

    MPEG Home Page, http://www.chiariglione.org/mpeg/index.htm 

February 26th:

Unit 2 (cont.):  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term
                        ~Project Management
                        ~Quality Control

Readings:

Stephen Chapman, “Considerations for Project Management” (HDP)

Janet Gertz. “Vendor Relations,” (HDP)

Stephen Chapman, “Developing Best Practices:  Guidelines from Case Studies,” (HDP)

Oya Rieger, “Establishing a Quality Control Program,” (MTP)

"The Persistence of Vision:  Images and Imaging at the William Blake Archive," RLG DigiNews 4.1 (2000), http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews4-1.html#feature1

March 4th:  Unit 2 (cont.):  Building Digital Libraries for the Long-Term
                           ~Case Studies in the Management of Digitization Projects
                           ~Sustaining Digital Initiatives for the Long-Term

Readings:

Anne Kenney, “Projects to Programs:  Mainstreaming Digital Imaging Initiatives,” (MTP)

Please explore the following project sites, including all documentation:

Making of America, http://moa.cit.cornell.edu/moa/index.html

Library of Congress Preservation Digital Reformatting Program, http://lcweb.loc.gov/preserv/prd/presdig/presintro.html

Historic Pittsburgh, http://digital.library.pitt.edu/pittsburgh/

March 11th:  No Class (Spring Break)

March 18th:

Topic for Case Study Due

Unit 3:  Maintaining Digital Resources Over Time
                       ~Strategies for Digital Preservation
                         —Refreshing
                         —Migration
                         —Encapsulation
                         —Emulation
                         —Digital Archaeology

Readings:

David Bearman, “Reality and Chimeras in the Preservation of Electronic Records,” D-Lib Magazine (Apr. 1999).  Available online at: http://www.dlib.org/dlib/april99/bearman/04bearman.html

Michèle V. Cloonan and Shelby Sanett, "Preservation Strategies for Electronic Records: Where We Are Now—Obliquity and Squint?," American Archivist 65.1 (2002): 70-106. On reserve.

Charles Dollar,  Authentic Electronic Records:  Strategies for Long-Term Access (Chicago: Cohasset Associates, 1999).  Chapters 1-2 (pp. 11-89).  On reserve.  CD 974.4 D65 1999

Jeff Rothenberg, Avoiding Technological Quicksand:  Finding a Viable Technical Foundation for Digital Preservation (CLIR Report, Jan. 1998).  Available online at:  http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/rothenberg/contents.html

Charles Dollar,  Authentic Electronic Records:  Strategies for Long-Term Access (Chicago: Cohasset Associates, 1999).  Appendix 4 (pp. 207-213).  On reserve.  CD974.4 .D65 1999

William G. LeFurgy, "PDF/A:  Developing a File Format for Long-Term Preservation," RLG DigiNews 7.6 (2003), http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews7-6.html#feature1

Margaret Hedstrom and Clifford Lampe, "Emulation Vs. Migration:  Do Users Care?" RLG DigiNews 5.6 (2001), http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews5-6.html#feature1

March 25th:

Unit 3 (cont.):  Maintaining Digital Resources Over Time
                        ~Authenticity of Digital Objects and Records
                        ~Trusted Digital Repositories
                        ~Risk Management
                       

Readings:

Authenticity in a Digital Environment (CLIR Report, May 2000).  Available online at:  http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub92abst.html

G. Thomas Tanselle, “Reproductions and Scholarship,” Studies in Bibliography 42 (Sept. 1989):  25-54.  On reserve.

Luciana Duranti, "Reliability and Authenticity:  The Concepts and Their Implications," Archivaria 39 (1995):  5-10.  On reserve.

OCLC/RLG, "Trusted Digital Repositories:  Attributes and Responsibilities," (RLG, 2002), available online at:   http://www.rlg.org/longterm/repositories.pdf

Laura Price and Abby Smith, Managing Cultural Assets from a Business Perspective, (CLIR report, Mar. 2000), available online at:  http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub90abst.html

Anne R. Kenney, et al., "Preservation Risk Management for Web Resources" D-Lib Magazine (January 2002), http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january02/kenney/01kenney.html

April 1st:

Unit 3 (cont.):  Maintaining Digital Resources Over Time
                        ~Recent Research on the Management of Digital Preservation and Electronic Records Projects
                           —INTERPARES (International P Authentic R
                           —Knowledge-Based Persistant Archives (San Diego Supercomputer Center)
                        ~Case Studies in Digital Preservation
                           —Data File Preservation
                           —Electronic Scholarly Journals and e-Prints
                           —Digital Asset Management
                        ~Costs

Readings:

InterPARES, "The Long-Term Preservation of Authentic Electronic Records:  Findings of the InterPARES Project," available online at:   http://www.interpares.org/book/index.htm

Margaret Hedstrom and Sheon Montgomery, “Digital Preservation Needs and Requirements in RLG Member Institutions,” RLG DigiNews (Dec. 1998), http://www.rlg.org/preserv/digpres.html

Oya Rieger, "Developing a Digital Preservation Policy," (MTP)

Helen Shenton, "From Talking to Doing:  Digital Preservation at the British Library," paper presented at Preservation 2000:  An International Conference on the Preservation and Long-Term Accessibility of Digital Materials (Dec. 2000), available online at:  http://www.rlg.org/events/pres-2000/shenton.html

Ronald Jantz, "Public Opinion Polls and Digital Preservation:  An Application of the Fedora Digital Object Repository System," D-Lib Magazine (November 2003), http://www.dlib.org/dlib/november03/jantz/11jantz.html

Stephen Pinfield and Hamish James, "The Digital Preservation of e-Prints," D-Lib Magazine (September 2003), http://www.dlib.org/september03/pinfield/09pinfield.html

Patsy Baudoin, "Uppity Bits:  Coming to Terms with Archiving Dynamic Electronic Journals," The Serials Librarian, 43.4 (2003):  63-72.  On reserve.

Shelby Sanett, "Cost to Preserve Authentic Electronic Records in Perpetuity:  Comparing Costs Across Cost Models and Cost Frameworks" RLG DigiNews, 7(4), August 2003. http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews7-4.html#feature2

Stephen Chapman, "Counting the Costs of Digital Preservation: Is Repository Storage Affordable?" Journal of Digital Information, 4(2), May 2003. http://jodi.ecs.soton.ac.uk/Articles/v04/i02/Chapman/chapman-final.pdf

April 8th:

Unit 3 (cont.):  Maintaining Digital Resources Over Time
                        ~External Factors Influencing Digital Preservation and Access
                           —Legal
                           —Economic
                           —Sociocultural
                           —Political
                           —Technical

Stewart Granger, "Digital Preservation and Deep Infrastructure," D-Lib Magazine (February 2002), http://www.dlib.org/dlib/february02/granger/02granger.html

Lavoie, Brian F.  "The Incentives to Preserve Digital Materials:  Roles, Scenarios, and Decision-Making," (OCLC, 2003), available online at:  http://www.oclc.org/research/projects/digipres/incentives-dp.pdf.

Preserving Our Digital Heritage:  Plan for the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program" (2002), http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/repor/ndiipp_plan.pdf

Colin Webb, "Barriers or Stepping Stones? Impediments to Digital Archiving and Preservation Programs," CLIR Issues, Number 34, July/August 2003. http://www.clir.org/pubs/issues/issues34.html#webb

April 15th:

Case Study Due

Reports on Case Studies

Review for Examination (Take-Home Exam Distributed)

April 22nd:

Examination Due (by 3:00 p.m. in instructor's mailbox)