Strategic Plans/Framework - USU Libraries Preservation

Purpose

For the purpose of this plan, preservation will include any activity, with managerial and financial sustainability considerations, that ensures access to digital material under the care of the Utah State University Libraries’ Digital Repositories for a period of time determined by a balance between a.) the needs of users and b.) the priorities of Utah State University (USU) Libraries.  Preservation activities include, but are not limited to, provision of repository services, storage, policy development, and methods and actions involved in preserving digital items and the information contained in those items to retain their future accessibility and understandability.

This plan/framework applies to all information resources in digital form including:

• Born-digital (created electronically)

• Content digitized from fragile or obsolete media

• Digitally-reformatted materials

• Any metadata associated with those resources at the point of capture

• Any new metadata created as part of the digital preservation process (i.e. acquisition, ingest, normalization, and migration).

The plan/framework applies to all information resources which have been created by or acquired/gifted to the Utah State University Libraries.

This plan/framework is subject to change as new and emerging technologies or methodologies impact the ability to preserve digital content.

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Objectives/Intentions

The primary objective of digital preservation is to preserve long-term access to digital resources. USU Libraries plans to meet this goal through the following objectives:

• Establish a policies and best practices that adhere to relevant standards and requirements including, but not limited to, the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model (CCSDS 650.0-M-2).

• Demonstrate organizational commitment through identification of sustainable funding for the program.

• Create sustainable and documented procedures and workflows that support digital preservation activities.

• Establish a robust collection development policy for the digital preservation of both physical and digital materials.

• Commit professional development funding into ongoing training and resources to support and build digital preservation institutional knowledge and expertise.

• Explore Partnerships and collaborative agreements will be investigated and established when deemed to be an appropriate use of Library resources.

• Define a regular schedule for review and assessment of digital preservation policies to account for changes in technology, resources, and preservation needs.

Standards compliance

USU Libraries will utilize the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model  (CCSDS 650.0-M-2). as the basis for developing and implementing strategies and tools for long-term digital information preservation and access.  The library will align its policies, procedures, and practices with the Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC) standard (ISO 16363).

Scope

activities involved in digital preservation program (i.e. acquisition, appraisal and selection, ingest, metadata, preservation, access/use)