1 / 16

Certifying Digital Repositories: Development of the Audit Checklist

Certifying Digital Repositories: Development of the Audit Checklist . Robin L. Dale 1 September 2006 Long-Term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future. Overview. Background & checklist development Uses of checklist “Testdriving” via the CRL–Mellon Project

jerry
Download Presentation

Certifying Digital Repositories: Development of the Audit Checklist

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. Certifying Digital Repositories: Development of the Audit Checklist Robin L. Dale 1 September 2006 Long-Term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  2. Overview • Background & checklist development • Uses of checklist • “Testdriving” via the CRL–Mellon Project • Process outputs: Compliance issues, reporting out • Future of evaluation, audit, & certification Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  3. TDRs: Background • Background • Preserving Digital Information (1996) • “…a network of certified digital archives.” • Open Archival Information System (OAIS) • Trusted Digital Repositories: Attributes & Responsibilities • Assumptions • Research depends upon access digital content held by “third parties” • E-journals, data archives, e-science grid, etc. • “Wild West” of repositories and repository semantics Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  4. A semantically confusing scene • Digital repositories • Digital archives • Data archives • Institutional repositories • Digital object management systems • Digital asset management systems • de facto network of varying development, capabilities, content, intent/services, data longevity, vulnerabilities, horizons/sunsets Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  5. Checklist Development • TDR as a system, not just technical bits • Organizational infrastructure • Digital object management • Technical infrastructure • Repositories will differ, but good practice and reliable technical infrastructure are universal • Audit as objective evaluation; basis for trust • Focus on transparency • i.e., policies, procedures, content, vulnerabilities Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  6. Uses of the Checklist • Repository/Archives Planning • Set of minimal characteristics for a digital preservation repository • Self Assessment • Gap analysis • Audit • Organizations/Institutions • Services • Basis for certification Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  7. Too OAIS-centric Organizational, financial too prescriptive Technical too … Prescriptive Library-centric Steeped in OAIS Designated Community issues “It doesn’t seem to apply to my archives/ repository/data center/ situation…” Too strict/too expensive – why should I do it? I don’t think my repository will get certified, but we certainly think others should have to… Draft Checklist Feedback Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  8. “Testdriving” via the CRL Project • Center for Research Libraries (CRL) Auditing & Certification of Digital Archives project • Andrew W. Mellon Foundation funding • Leveraged RLG-NARA checklist • Scoped to known content • Test audits of three archives/repositories & LOCKSS distributed archiving system • Multiple approaches, software, hardware, content types, state of development/production Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  9. CRL Auditing and Certification Project (2) • Audits to determine… • Technologies & technical infrastructure • Archive processes and procedures • Characteristics that affect performance, accountability & business continuity • Audit Process Development • Additional questions (beyond checklist)? • Personnel required • Business model for certification Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  10. Lessons Learned Thus Far • Metrics target varying granularity levels • Audit involves far more than a checklist • More data needed in financial and technical areas • Interviews, documentation, time • Providing evidence is critical • Interpretations very different • Existing standards only provide partial evidence • Economics drive incentive & transparency • Desired audit output(s) often different from completed checklist Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  11. Process Outputs: Compliance Issues & Reporting Out • Compliance Issues • Is it a true checklist? • Levels of compliance? • Audit compliance versus certification grading • Reporting Out • What constitutes a report? • Audience? • Who has access to outputs? • Information confidentiality issues • Community’s/depositor’s/funder’s “need to know” • Trusted network partners Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  12. Provost/CIO statement Executive Summary Full Report Introduction Institutional overview Scoping the audit Findings Organizational Analysis Governance, Staff, Policies & Procedures, Financial, Succession planning Technical Analysis Architecture, Data Security, Data Ingest, Archival Storage, Preservation Planning, Data Management, Access Management, Business Continuity, Environmental Management, Disaster Planning Content Analysis Vulnerabilities Observations & Recommendations Reporting Out: CRL Reports Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  13. Checklist Rethinking & Redevelopment • Revision based on valuable public comment, CRL test audit experience, changing landscape • Addition of evidence, references to broader process are key • More applicability, fewer sacrifices • OAIS as communication vehicle; not constraint • Mission/context/responsibilities, roles, content, vulnerabilities • Common set of policies, practices, and expectations • User-desired outputs driving new inputs Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  14. Future of Evaluation, Audit, & Certification • Checklist - August • New document release – September 2006 • CRL project end – Oct-Nov 2006 • Products • Checklist • Supporting documentation • Business model to support evaluation (audit → certification; timeframe) • “Standards” & training • Economic & incentive model • Audit output(s) • Audit/evaluation registry? Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  15. Goals of Checklist, Audit & Certification • A trustworthy system of repositories, archives, services • Data archives, academic content, e-journal archives, government archives, etc • Common, objective metrics of policies, practices, and technical capabilities • Provisions for evidence, competency, reliability, sustainability • Cannot rely solely on a de facto network! Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

  16. Questions? Thank you. Robin.Dale@rlg.org Long-term Repositories: Taking the Shock out of the Future

More Related