Staff Papers
Preservation Roles and Responsibilities of Collecting Institutions in the Digital Age
This paper was presented to the 2nd National Preservation Office Conference: Multimedia Preservation - Capturing the Rainbow, in Brisbane, Queensland, 28 - 30 November 1995 by Maggie Jones, Director, Collection Management and Retrieval Service.
The purpose of this paper is to look at the roles and responsibilities of traditional collections at the National Library of Australia; to consider how applicable these models are to digital collections; and to suggest that these models may be successfully adapted to the digital environment. Finally, I will briefly describe some activities at the National Library which are helping to establish roles and responsibilities within the organisation for the care and maintenance of digital collections and also to overcome organisational barriers.
To begin with, I'd like to show you some examples of the collections we have at the National Library. There are many things we can tell from just looking at these collections. For example, we can see the great range of formats they cover, they include oil paintings; watercolours; photographs; drawings and prints; maps, newspapers; films; videos; and sound tapes. We also of course collect books!. We can get a sense of the great size of the collection by looking at them as well as their diversity. The National Library holds more than six million items represented in a wide range of different formats.
Often, we can tell, just by looking at an object, what condition it's in. There are also fairly clear implications about many of the roles and responsibilities within the organisation that are obvious just by looking at these collections. For example, when we see a damaged item, we know where to find the specialist skills to treat it. However the fundamental principle in our preservation program is that prevention is much better than cure and so we depend on many others, apart from specialist preservation staff, to help us prolong the life of our collections, or at least the information contained in them.
The sheer size and variety of the collections alone should be enough to make it clear that the care and protection of them can't realistically rest solely in the hands of the small team of professional conservators within the Preservation Services section of the National Library. The success of the National Library's preservation program, like that of any other large institution, is heavily dependent on the extent to which it is integrated into the entire organisation, so that all those involved with the collections have a role to play in taking care of them. Similarly, those in charge of building services need to know that their influence on the quality of the environmental conditions of the building plays an important role in prolonging the life of the collections.
In addition, there are agreements with other collecting institutions who have accepted prime preservation responsibilities for certain categories of material and this also impacts on how these collections are treated. For example, the National Newspaper Plan (NPLAN) places primary preservation responsibility for the newspaper of a particular State in the hands of the appropriate State Library. The National Library therefore needs to communicate with these institutions to ensure that there is no unnecessary duplication, that there is coordination of effort, and so on. But as a general rule, it's understood that the care of the collections is primarily undertaken by the institution which owns them and which stores them within their building.
As well as procedures to take care of the collections in normal circumstances, there have also developed what are commonly known as disaster plans or counter disaster plans which attempt to ensure that in the event of any unforeseen incident, a series of procedures can be put into place which will minimise the undesirable impact on this incident on the collections. These have become more sophisticated and better organised in recent times as the recent conference at the State Library of New South Wales, Redefining Disasters, illustrated and are now tending to be called risk management plans, as a more appropriate description for what they're attempting to do.
So what has evolved is a fairly complex linking of skills and effort in which a number of individuals within an organisation and beyond that organisation each have an important role to play in ensuring their collections are taken care of in such a way that continued access to them, or at least to the information contained in them, can be reasonably assured for generations to come. Preservation Services staff play a central role in ensuring this preservation model works because of their specialist skills, but it depends heavily on the active involvement of others to ensure it works effectively.
This model is constantly evolving and improving. It requires constant nurturing to ensure there is clear communication between all relevant stakeholders. It needs constant monitoring of its effectiveness and a willingness to continually refine and make improvements. It also needs to take into account new information which may question previous practices or at least suggest the need to modify them. So it is by no means a static model. In general, it serves us well. What it relies on in order to work is a common commitment to ensuring the long term accessibility of the collections, and cooperation which hopefully flows from that common commitment.
There are two important points to note here before we look at the implications for a digital world:
- this model is constantly evolving, and constantly improving
- it has been successfully implemented before every single barrier to the long term preservation of these materials has been overcome.
(For example, if we had waited until a definitive solution had been found which accommodated the preservation needs of all the formats represented in our collections before implementing a preservation program, we would have ended up with a library full of unusable material - I'll return to the link between preservation and access later.)
So what of the digital environment? What is increasing at a very rapid rate is information available over telecommunication networks, which can't be seen. We don't have tangible items in our collections and even when we do, as in CD's, floppy discs etc., we can't tell just by looking at them, what condition they're in. We don't have a body of knowledge and experience which allows us to specify what is the most cost effective option to ensure their ongoing maintenance. In the case of networked information, when we don't have a tangible item owned by the Library, we have no obvious link to whose responsibility it is to maintain it, no obvious way of being able to tell whether it is in fact endangered, and no easy way to find it in the first place, much less make an assessment of its significance. Within institutions such as ours, the infrastructure for dealing with digital technology tends to be found in IT sections of the Library. Here we find the technical skills and equipment required but not the preservation management skills, whereas preservation sections have the preservation management skills, but not the technical skills or the equipment to deal with information in this form.
There are a number of responses we could make to this. We could throw up our hands in horror and say, we really don't need any more problems, we have more than enough already which we have to deal with in trying to take care of our traditional collections. We have collections on brittle paper, difficulties in maintaining adequate storage, dwindling budgets, and now something we can't even see and which everyone is describing as "challenging"! However, this is not particularly constructive and has never been seriously considered by the Library. Alternatively, we could throw ourselves headlong into embracing the new technology with gusto and focus on the exciting opportunities it holds for liberating users from the traditional conflict between preservation and access. However there are significant practical constraints with this. There are simply not enough funds available to put into place the necessary infrastructure to digitise retrospective collections comprehensively as well as ensure access to materials originating in digital form. Furthermore, it can lead to polarising colleagues into those who are "for' and those who appear to be "against" new technology, so ultimately this is neither constructive nor practical.
On the other hand, we simply can't go into a state of suspended animation while all the implications of the new and emerging technologies settle down. Unless someone, somewhere, takes responsibility for making it easier to find digital information and then making sure that it will have at least the same chance of survival as information in non digital form, then people are going to have increasing difficulties and frustrations in finding the information they need. Since libraries have always been in the business of organising information so that it's easier to find, it seems entirely logical and appropriate that they should continue to play a strong role in the digital environment too.
So at the National Library, what we're attempting to do is undertake a range of activities aimed at taking full advantage of the potential of technology to improve our services, but in such a way that we can develop procedures which will enable us to manage the changes to our functions responsibly. We don't have any choice but to be cautious even if we wished otherwise but we don't see caution as being synonymous with either inaction or fear.
It's very easy to see the differences between our traditional collections and digital collections, in particular networked information resources, but at the National Library we believe that there are existing models which can be adapted to the digital environment. We make the assumption that there will continue to be a critical role for all collecting institutions in the digital age albeit one which is constantly adapting to change. We don't expect that they will be the sole players but we do believe that they will need to play a very strong role.
The World 1 service being developed by the National Library has as its central aim the provision of seamless access to information regardless of its physical format. Until this service is fully operational, the National Library is systematically putting in place measures which will move towards this aim. We can't, at this stage, integrate procedures for our traditional and digital collections as smoothly as we would wish, but we have made a start on putting procedures into place which will at least allow the prospect of first identifying and then helping to ensure long term access of those items which we believe should be retained for the future.
In taking this approach we have the models already in place to guide us in our thinking and the experience to tell us that we don't need to have solved every single problem before we set up workable preservation programs. We have cooperative arrangements in place already and there is no reason why that cooperation and collaboration can't continue to be built on; and hopefully broaden. We also have an approach to planning in which our strategic and operational plans, and our policies are not regarded as inflexible documents which are carved in stone and which must be followed slavishly to the last detail. Instead they are regarded as broad frameworks within which we are given a sense of direction without being inhibited from the need to adapt to constantly changing circumstances.
We are already accustomed to the kind of fluid approach to planning which will surely be required more than ever as we move into the digital world, so we see it as a perfectly logical extension to those activities we already undertake.
We also have, within our organisation, a range of skills and experience which will be required and we already know, from experience in our traditional preservation model, that organisational structures are not necessarily a barrier to effective linkages of all the skills which are required. We have never, for example, expected to find architectural and engineering skills in the same section as reformatting and paper conservation expertise, but we have successfully put into place a system which ensures that those who do have the necessary skills, communicate with each other and cooperate with each other. We need to form different linkages in the digital environment and this is new and unfamiliar at the moment and we haven't quite settled down into the confidence and familiarity about who's responsible for what that we have in our traditional model. The overlapping skills required does also mean a key variation of the existing model where, instead of Preservation Services playing a central role in ensuring the model is working, there is a much more distributed model in which a whole range of linkages needs to be accommodated and no-one plays a central role. In the short term this often seemed confusing, we tended to think who's driving this? It can't be us, but it doesn't seem to be them. Perhaps a more appropriate image, rather than a driver's role, is that taken from last year's joint New Zealand Library Association / Australian Library and Information Association conference of everyone paddling in a canoe. The trick is to make sure everyone's paddling in the same direction! However it still needs the basic underlying premise of the traditional model which is that before a preservation program can be truly successful it needs the active engagement of a diverse range of skills.
In summary ,what we feel we have going for us as we embark on the initial stages of developing a preservation program for digital information are:
- Experience and expertise in a wide range of areas which will be
required in the digital environment.
These include selecting material which will satisfy our current and future clients information needs; IT skills, not just in our Systems Branch but also in the team responsible for the development of the National Library server; and prioritising collections according to their value and/or significance and vulnerability - Familiarity with the concept of preserving the information content,
rather than the physical artefact.
This underpins all the reformatting programs which are active in libraries. - Familiarity with a preservation model which depends on cooperation from disparate sources within the organisation
- Familiarity with collaborating and cooperating with other collecting institutions The work of the DNC Office is an obvious example, also the cooperative digitisation project with University of Sydney, State Library of New South Wales, Monash University, and the National Library, as well as ongoing collaborative arrangements such as the cooperative preservation microfilming program
- Familiarity with developing and using planning tools which are designed to adapt to changing circumstances
- Good understanding of the important role of standards in ensuring
continued access to information and some representation on various standards
bodies.
For example, we have a representative on the Standards Australia IT19 Committee, and of course there is the work of the NPO in a range of standards activities. We have a good general understanding of the importance of standards in all aspects of collection management, for example, preservation microfilming. - Good awareness of what's going on elsewhere in this area worldwide.
We now have an excellent theoretical knowledge of the issues which have emerged in the literature, from discussion lists, from the draft report of the Taskforce on Digital Archiving etc. Notwithstanding fierce arguments about specifics, such as longevity of various media, there is tremendous commonality of experiences and consensus on what the broad issues and barriers are. In addition, the technology itself now allows greater and generally much faster access to that information as well as facilitating easier discussion with colleagues overseas as well as elsewhere in Australia. - Willingness to share information.
This comes out of above and is also characteristic of the profession which, notwithstanding increasing moves towards user pays, still remains firmly focussed on public good issues rather than commercial concerns. - Commitment to preserving Australian documentary heritage in all its
forms.
This is probably the most important of all and again, is not motivated by profit but because that's the mandate we've been given.
This seems to us a good start and enough to allow us to embark on a series of activities which will lead us towards a clearly defined role for the National Library. We are working on the expectation and indeed the hope that we will not be the only player and that we can form alliances to assist in ensuring the long term accessibility of Australian digital information not only with our traditional partners but also others, including creators of digital information if there is likely to be an ongoing need for that information. Whether the creator is an organisation with both the commitment and resources to maintain digital information over time themselves or not is likely to determine the nature of the relationship between them and the Library. For example, if the creator is not in a position to maintain the information over time but the information is considered to be significant, the National Library may well undertake the responsibility for maintaining it if another institution is not considered to be a more appropriate site. These national mechanisms have yet to be worked out but our planning assumes that they will be developed in time, that they will involve the National Library and other institutions taking on roles as both facilitators and active participants in preserving digital information, and our procedures and policies will be able to adapt as these national mechanisms evolve.
The last two years at the National Library have been characterised by a lot of energy and effort being put into discussing, information gathering, and planning. Very little was visible at first to indicate the feverish activity going on behind the scenes. Our first priority has been to improve access to information. There has always of course been a very strong connection between access and preservation in libraries. There's no point in investing resources into preservation if we don't have at least a well informed guess that the material being preserved will be required in the future even if it isn't immediately. The reason we want to preserve our collections is so that they can be used and can go on being used for as long as they're needed.
In the digital environment, the links between selection of materials, provision of access to those materials, and preservation of them over time is so inextricably linked that at the National Library we tend to talk increasingly simply of providing short and long term access rather than even making a semantic distinction between preservation and access.
This convergence of skills as well as technologies has led us to adopt mechanisms which will both formally and informally link areas of the Library which are currently structurally separate. It may seem abundantly self evident that there needs to be clear communication between all relevant areas, but actually ensuring that happens is often easier said than done. Not least because of the different language people from different areas tend to use. Those who think the English language is an effective communication tool have obviously never tried to communicate with someone from a different discipline to their own when a conversation can often be fraught with confusion and misunderstandings, particularly between those from an IT background and those who haven't. It's worth emphasising here that overcoming these barriers requires great effort and goodwill on both sides to overcome. Without, on the one hand a willingness to avoid using jargon or highly technical language and also tolerance for those who are having to struggle with concepts which are obvious to those with an aptitude for IT and on the other hand a willingness to make the effort to become familiar with technical terms and with technological developments in general even though we may not feel comfortable with this area, it's incredibly difficult to engage in constructive dialogue in which we are able to make substantial progress towards our common aim of providing integrated, seamless access to the whole gamut of information required by our clients.
It is this recognition that we need to build in mechanisms which will allow us all to learn from each other as well as to learn new things as we go which has influenced the approach we've taken at the National Library. We have had in place for some years a committee in which representatives from areas of the Library involved in all aspects of acquiring, maintaining, and providing service from the Library's collections discuss major issues and develop a range of policies. The focus of much discussion within this Committee for the past two years has been in the implications of new and emerging technologies on our operations and that discussion has assisted in refining our thinking and isolating the key issues.
In addition, there have been a number of initiatives taken which involve staff from structurally separate areas of the Library.
These initiatives may involve working groups which have been set up for a specific project, such as the portraits project set up to coordinate the digitisation of a segment of the Library's collection of portraits, or with a specific task, such as the investigation of the available options for finding Australian information on the Internet, or the development of guidelines for selecting Australian digital information for long term access. The committee set up as a result of a recommendation made by this last working group will select Australian digital information and simultaneously establish what infrastructure requirements there will be in order to provide access to this information. The Library is currently investigating the potential of World 1 to be an archiving site for Australian information and a pilot project to mount selected electronic journals on World 1 will commence early next year.
The reason I use these examples is not to focus on what they're doing or to suggest that they represent the sum total of the Library's activities in these areas, but to illustrate that they each draw on the range of skills and perspectives of staff working in structurally distinct areas of the Library. An underlying assumption behind these initiatives is that there is still much to learn and discover but that we know enough to be able to begin taking action.
In summary, we believe at the National Library that we can make a good start towards delineating roles and responsibilities which will assist in ensuring access over time to important digital information being created. We don't underestimate the magnitude of the task and it would be foolish to do so but we do believe it is timely to begin to take action. We are taking an approach which is cautious and considered but which allows us to move forward systematically and incrementally and we are doing that by adapting and building on the models we already have in place because they seem to us to offer a good basis for the future.
Last updated 10 June 1998
