In a project to test the best methods and strategies
for long-term preservation of important digital
collections, the university's
Sheridan
Libraries are participating in a $1 million Library of
Congress project called the Archive Ingest and Handling
Test.
Along with counterparts at Harvard, Stanford and Old
Dominion universities, researchers at the
Digital Knowledge
Center at Johns Hopkins will work with a massive
collection of images, e-mails, Web pages, chat logs and the
like surrounding the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States
— some 57,000 digital records collected by historians
at George Mason University and donated to the Library of
Congress for this preservation test project.
"We're thrilled that this [digital record] is going to
be preserved for the long haul," said Tom Scheinfeldt,
managing director of the Sept. 11 Digital Archive. "I think
the exciting thing about this is having a real-world case
study."
Using different methods, each university will analyze
the Sept. 11 collection and test ways for bulk ingesting
the archive into digital repository systems, keeping in
mind that data formats — such as HTML, JPEG and the
like — may go out of use over time, and for true
long-term preservation, any digital repository must be
flexible and capable of migrating data and adapting to new
formats. Winston Tabb, dean of university libraries and
director of the Sheridan Libraries, said, "Digital
preservation of our nation's social, cultural and
historical record is vitally important, and we're delighted
that the Sheridan Libraries are participating in this
effort."
The Johns Hopkins team will test multiple systems, not
only to determine how the systems handle the data but also
to see how the systems may work with one another, said
Sayeed Choudhury, associate director for digital programs
in the Sheridan Libraries.
"For this particular test, one system may be
sufficient. But when one considers the diversity and scale
of digital content, it's possible that one system will not
be sufficient," said Choudhury, who will oversee the
Hopkins project. "This test will help us understand the
features of the multiple systems as they relate to
different types of content and metadata."
At the end of the 12-month test, the participants will
publish a final report detailing both current practices for
digital preservation and future areas of research. Further
information about the project will be posted periodically
at
www.digitalpreservation.gov.
The Archive Ingest Handling Test is part of an
initiative led by the Library of Congress to build a
network of preservation partners through the National
Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation
Program.
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