Presentation given to Staff, Students, and Alumni at San Francisco State on March 3, 2014 concerning Digital Preservation in museums.

1. Digital Preservation
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • www.chris-alexander.com

2. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Areas of Focus
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Overview
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OAIS and all it’s parts
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Sampling of some issues
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DAMS that Implement OAIS
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What is Digital Preservation?
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Issues faced with policy
implementation
Collection Management vs.
Digital Asset Management
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•
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Digital Assets
New Media Art
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Considerations
Listening Post @SJMA
Nam June Paik @MoMA
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Viability
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Renderability
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Social Media
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Understandability
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Data
•
Digital Asset Management
Systems
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Mobile, and other
interactives
•
The Future

3. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
What is Digital Preservation?!
!
The series of managed activities necessary to ensure
continued access to digital materials for as long as
necessary (in the best format possible).

4. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Some of the issues involved in implementing
digital preservation policy
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Digital content lives everywhere. Information is stored, but it’s value
and location is not recorded making use and discovery very difficult.
•
What happens when the person responsible moves on?
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Digital Preservation is a disruptive technology.
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A digital asset is only as good as it’s description or metadata.
•
If an institution is using a Digital Asset Management System,
particularly for collection images, does the DAMS sync regularly with
the Collection Management System?

5. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
What are museums creating today?
Audio
Images
Label Text
Video
Essays
Wall Text
Catalogues
Websites
Checklists
Marketing
Donor Info
Mobile Apps
Presentations

6. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
3 Keys for !
Preserving Digital Assets

7. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Viability - Maintain the integrity of the bitstream. Ensure
that the file is working and not corrupted.

8. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Renderability - Having a way of displaying the bitstream
through hardware and software.

9. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Discoverability - Taking into account future generations
and how they understand or handle the file.

10. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Digital Asset Management Systems!
(DAMS)

11. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

12. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

13. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

14. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

15. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

16. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

17. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Open Archival Information System

18. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Open Archival Information System
Ingest: These are the steps required to transfer items from their
current location into the archive in a managed manner.

19. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Open Archival Information System
Archival Storage: The storage of the bulk data (usually
files) based on standard storage management tools.

20. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Open Archival Information System
Data Management: Tools to manage the storage of the
archive, including the metadata.

21. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Open Archival Information System
Administration: A set of tools to administer the system
and access to it.

22. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Open Archival Information System
Access: Tools to search, browse and download the
contents of the archive.

23. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Open Archival Information System
Preservation Planning: The module that manages the
information so that it can be accessed long into the future.

24. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
DAMS Supporting OAIS

25. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

26. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

27. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

28. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

29. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

30. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies

31. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Digital Asset Management System Integration with !
Collection Management Systems
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•
•
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Important to have if you are using a DAMS to deliver
permanent collection images.
Need to maintain the data for both at the same time.
No out-of-box systems that provide both
Museums have successfully integrated both through
the use of APIs in each type of system
• MoMA - NetXposure and Gallery Systems TMS
• Fitzwilliams - Extensis Portfolio and Adlib

32. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
New Media Works of Art
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More and more museums are starting to collect them.
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What does the day-to-day, year-to-year, and decade-todecade maintenance entail?
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What are the implications if you are no longer able to
display the work due to damage or outdated technology?
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What are the ethical questions behind replacing old
technologies with more modern?

33. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Listening Post at the San Jose Museum of Art

34. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Listening Post Maintenance and Preservation
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Artist to provide ongoing maintenance and updates to the work
(has since switched from chatrooms to Twitter).
•
At time of acquisition the piece was recording a 10-year block
of chatroom “chatter”.
•
Through consultation with the artist, the museum has acquired
backup hardware components.
•
Acquisition by SJMA included a lengthy manual on care and
maintenance.

35. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Nam June Paik at MoMA NY

36. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Nan June Paik Maintenance and Preservation
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Artist left a lot to chance by allowing others to make decisions about
displaying the work, but insisted on making certain decisions.
•
Paik insisted on CRT monitors vs. newer flat screen.
•
Paik left no clear road map for repairing or replacing obsolete
exhibition equipment.
•
Artist had approved prior change to the work - U-Matic tape for video
display was converted to laserdisc.
•
MoMA purchased a full back-up of all the CRTs from the shop that
supplied them to him. Also purchased spotlight and camera back-ups.
•
A floppy disc player that provided the original music was replaced by
a wireless MP3 player. The floppy disc player remains on the piano
while the MP3 player is hidden.

37. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
The Future

38. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Social Media
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Comments
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Likes
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Updates
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Tweets

39. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Analytics
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Web Data
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Mobile Data
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Donor Data
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Collection Data

40. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Mobile Apps and Other Interactives
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Mobile Tours
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Kiosks
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In-gallery
interactives
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Surveys

41. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Questions?

42. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Bibliography
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Dale, Robin L., and Bruce Ambacher. Trustworthy Repositories Audit and Certification:
Criteria and Checklist. Online Computer Library Center, Feb. 2007. Web. Feb. 2014. <http://
www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/pages/trac_0.pdf>.
•
"Introduction - Definitions and Concepts." Digital Preservation Coalition. Digital Preservation
Coalition, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2014. <http://www.dpconline.org/advice/preservationhandbook/
introduction/definitions-and-concepts>.
•
Lavoie, Brian F. The Open Archival Information System Reference Model: Introductory
Guide. Rep. Digital Preservation Coalition, Jan. 2004. Web. Feb. 2014. <http://
www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/91-introduction-to-oais>.
•
Tilbury, Jonathan. The Long-Term Preservation of Digital Information. Digitalpreservation.com. Digital Preservation Coalition, Mar. 2010. Web. Feb. 2014. <http://
www.digital-preservation.com/wp-content/uploads/DigitalArchiving.pdf>.
•
Waibel, Günter. "Stewardship for Digital Images: Preserving Your Assets, Preserving Your
Investment." The Digital Museum: A Think Guide. Ed. Herminia Din and Phyllis Hecht.
Washington, DC: American Association of Museums, 2007. 167-77. Print.
•
Wharton, Glenn. "CONSERVING A NAM JUNE PAIK ALTERED PIANO, PART 2." InsideOut.
Museum of Modern Art New York, 8 May 2013. Web. 03 Mar. 2014. <https://www.moma.org/
explore/inside_out/2013/05/08/conserving-a-nam-june-paik-altered-piano-part-2>.

43. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Resources
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Trustworthy Repositories Audit and Certification: Criteria and Checklist
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Digital Preservation Jargon Buster
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http://hangingtogether.org
List of Digital Asset Management Systems
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http://www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/379-dpc-jargonbuster-july-2009
Hanging Together (Staff blog at OCLC)
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http://www.crl.edu/sites/default/files/attachments/pages/trac_0.pdf
http://bitly.com/DAMSlist
ResourceSpace - Open Source DAMS
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http://www.resourcespace.org
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Portico - http://www.portico.org
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Preservica - http://preservica.com
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Exlibris Rosetta- http://exlibrisgroup.com
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Archivematica - http://archivematica.org

44. Digital Preservation!
Chris Alexander • San Francisco State University • Museum Studies
Chris Alexander
Email:
Web:
LinkedIn:
Twitter:
!
Thank you!
cmalexander@me.com
www.chris-alexander.com
www.linkedin.com/in/cmalexander
www.twitter.com/cmalexander