ArchivesDirect hosted service

ArchivesDirect website. February 18, 2015.
ArchivesDirect is a web based hosted service of Archivematica offered by DuraSpace for creating OAIS-based digital preservation workflows with content packages that are archived with DuraCloud and Amazon Glacier. It includes open source preservation tools, and generates archival packets using microservices, PREMIS, and mets xml files. ArchivesDirect is intended for small to mid sized institutions. Duraspace is a partnership with DSpace, Fedora, and Vivo.

Pricing and subscription plans include:
ArchivesDirect Standard (System, training, 1 TB): $11,900
ArchivesDirect Digital Preservation Assessment: $4,500
Additional Storage in Amazon S3 and Glacier: $1,000/TB/year

Digital Preservation Matters.

Digital Preservation Coalition publishes ‘OAIS Introductory Guide (2nd Edition)’ Technology Watch Report

Digital Preservation Coalition publishes ‘OAIS Introductory Guide (2nd Edition)’ Technology Watch Report. Brian Lavoie.  Digital Preservation Coalition. Watch Report. October, 2014. [PDF]

The report describes the OAIS, its core principles and functional elements, as well as the information model which support long-term preservation, access and understandability of data. The OAIS reference model was approved in 2002 and revised and updated in 2012. Perhaps “the most important achievement of the OAIS is that it has become almost universally accepted as the lingua franca of digital preservation”.

The central concept in the reference model is that of an open archival information system. An OAIS-type archive must meet a set of six minimum responsibilities to do with the ingest, preservation, and dissemination of archived materials: Ingest, Archival Storage, Data Management, Preservation Planning, Access, and Administration. There are also Common Services, which consist of basic computing and networking resources.

An OAIS-type archive references three types of entities: Management, Producer, and Consumer, which includes the Designated Community: consumers expected to independently understand the archived information in the form in which it is preserved and made available by the OAIS. This is a  framework to encourage dialogue and collaboration among participants in standards-building activities, as well as identifying areas most likely to benefit from standards development.

An OAIS-type archive is expected to:

• Negotiate for and accept appropriate information from information producers;
• Obtain sufficient control of the information in order to meet long-term preservation objectives;
• Determine the scope of the archive’s user community;
• Ensure the preserved information is independently understandable to the user community
• Follow documented policies and procedures to ensure the information is preserved against all reasonable contingencies
• Make the preserved information available to the user community, and enable dissemination of authenticated

An OAIS should be committed to making the contents of its archival store available to its intended user community, through access mechanisms and services which support users’ needs and requirements. Such requirements may include preferred medium, access channels, and any access restrictions should be clearly documented.

 The OAIS information model is built around the concept of an information package, which includes: the Submission Information Package, the Archival Information Package, and the Dissemination Information Package. Preservation requires metadata to support and document the OAIS’s preservation processes, called Preservation Description Information, which ‘is specifically focused on describing the past and present states of the Content Information, ensuring that it is uniquely identifiable, and ensuring it has not been unknowingly altered’. The information consists of:

• Reference Information (identifiers)
• Context Information (describes relationships among information and objects)
• Provenance Information (history of the content over time)
• Fixity Information (verifying authenticity)
• Access Rights Information (conditions or restrictions)

OAIS is a model and not an implementation. It does not address system architectures, storage or processing technologies, database design, computing platforms, or other technical details of setting up a functioning archival system. But it has been used as a foundation or starting point. Efforts, such as TRAC, have been made to put the attributes of a trusted digital archive into a ‘checklist’ that could be used to support a certification process. PREMIS is a preservation metadata initiative that has emerged as the de facto standard. METS, and XML based  document form, has become widely used for encoding OAIS archival information packages.

The ‘OAIS reference model provides a solid theoretical basis for digital preservation efforts, though theory and practice can sometimes have an uneasy fit.’

Digital Preservation Matters.

National Library of Australia’s Digital Preservation Policy

Digital Preservation Policy 4th Edition (2013). National Library of Australia.  May 26, 2013.
This site outlines the National Library of Australia’s policy on preserving its digital collections, and collaborating with others to preserve digital information resources. The primary objective of their digital preservation activities is maintaining the ability to meaningfully access digital collection content over time. The primary concern is preserving the ability to access the Preservation Master File from which derivatives files may be created or re-created over time. To this end, preservation of digital library material includes:

•     Bit-level preservation of all digital objects, ie. keeping the original files intact;
•     Ensuring that authenticity and provenance is maintained;
•     Ensuring that appropriate preservation information is maintained;
•     Understanding and reporting on risks which affect ongoing access;
•     Performing appropriate actions to ensure that objects remain accessible;
•     Periodic review of preferred formats and digital metadata standards

Preservation of the Library's digital collections involves four main goals:

1.     Maintaining access to reliable data at bit-stream level;
2.     Maintaining access to content encoded in the bit streams;
3.     Maintaining access to the intended content; and
4.     Maintaining the stated preservation intent for all digital material over time.

While specific preservation activities may focus on one or more of these goals, the Library’s preservation responsibility is only fulfilled when all four goals have been adequately addressed.

The Library uses the concepts in the Open Archival Information Systems (OAIS) Reference Model and other international standards and best practices, such as PREMIS and Open Planets Foundation.

Digital Preservation Matters.