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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 52| August 2001
PANDORA Update
Hidden behind the public face of the PANDORA Archive is another world, the complex archive management system used to support PANDORA. A new management system, PANDAS (PANDORA Digital Archiving System) was implemented in June. PANDAS has been built in-house at the National Library of Australia using WebObjects software www.apple.com/webobjects/. The system is designed to manage the metadata about titles that have been both selected and rejected for inclusion in PANDORA, initiate gathers of titles to be archived, manage the quality checking/problem fixing process, prepare the item for public display and generate a title entry page, manage access restrictions, and provide management reports.
PANDAS replaces the rather awkward systems formerly used for archive management, which were centred around an MS Access database, some paper-based record keeping and manual updating of the PANDORA title entry pages and browse listings. PANDAS allows the PANDORA partners to interact directly with the system. Previously, they had to maintain metadata about their titles on separate MS Access databases, gather sites and do the quality checking process on their own machines, then send the completed files and PANDORA title entry pages to the National Library using the Internet file transfer protocol (FTP) for inclusion in the archive. PANDAS has made the entire process much more streamlined and efficient, with all participants using the same centrally managed system. It also supports a model whereby partners can use the central PANDAS system, but store and deliver the titles they have archived from their own servers rather than the Librarys server.
On 25 June, the Library hosted a meeting of representatives from the State/Territory Libraries and ScreenSound Australia to demonstrate the PANDAS system, to discuss the Australian National Collection of Online Resources and to provide an update on digital archiving activities and related matters such as persistent identifiers.
Building a national collection of online resources is costly, so a collaborative effort minimizing duplication and extending coverage is important. All of the State/Territory Libraries expressed an interest in participating in the development of the Australian National Collection of Online Resources. The meeting discussed the selection of items for inclusion in the National Collection, looking at issues such as items with print equivalents, sensitive or legally questionable materials, and exclusions based on technical or other criteria. It was decided that the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) would draft a generic selection guidelines template for online resources for approval. Each State/Territory Library could use this template as the basis for the selection of material for archiving, and add to it any special collecting areas of interest to them.
The State Libraries of Victoria and South Australia, and ScreenSound Australia are already active partners in PANDORA. At the meeting the Library and Information Service of Western Australia also made a commitment to becoming a PANDORA partner. We welcome them to the PANDORA family.
The State Library of Tasmania maintains a digital archive called Our Digital Island www.tased.edu.au/tasonline/history/. They are very interested in the distributed archiving possibilities of using the central PANDAS system for managing their archiving, but storing and delivering the sites they archive from their own server.
If you would like more information about PANDORA or the PANDAS system,
please contact Julie Whiting, Electronic Unit, National Library of
Australia email: jwhiting@nla.gov.au,
telephone: (02) 6262 1140.
Julie Whiting
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au