Preservation of Electronic Records as Archives

This is a workshop about electronic records as archives rather than current electronic records, i.e. it is not a records management workshop, although obviously there are some shared issues. There is an absolute maximum of 25 places available.

WORKSHOP AND PARTICIPANT INTRODUCTIONS
Introductions, expectations, possible modification of agenda, and a chance to share backgrounds and experiences in electronic records.

THE EVOLUTION AND CHARACTER OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS
The challenges and opportunities that the digital world poses to archival work and archival records; a brief history of and changes in computers and electronic records; basic computer technical concepts and terms that archivists need to know to work with electronic records; the difference in first and second and third generation computer-generated archives; institutional (including government) vs. personal electronic record keeping.

CRITICAL IDEAS AND ISSUES FOR ARCHIVING ELECTRONIC RECORDS
Beginning with an exploration of the ideas of David Bearman, this session will look at the controversies in the literature and between institutions over the last decade: custody vs. non-custody, metadata vs. description, processing vs. arrangement, archival authenticity vs. industry-based trusted systems, including reviewing in some detail the results of major electronic records research projects at the University of Pittsburgh, InterPARES, Monash University, University of Michigan, etc., and at National Archives in the USA, Canada, Australia, etc.

STRATEGIC POSITIONING FOR THE ARCHIVAL PROFESSION
Developing options for the role of archivists vis-à-vis record creators, records managers, records analysts, departmental officers, IT professionals, and various legal and auditing personnel, freedom of information and privacy protection, etc.

APPRAISAL OF ELECTRONIC RECORDS
Most electronic records having long-term value to society—that is beyond the needs of the creator—must be actively designated for preservation, ideally at the start of the computer system design process or they will vanish. Such “designation” between what will last and what will not is an archival function of appraisal, but with several new dimensions for electronic records. This session will explore the types of electronic records (survey/census/statistical, transactional files, DBMS, OA, ARMS, AI, GIS, CAD, etc.); generic advantages of electronic records (manipulability, linkage, aggregation, etc.) over their paper equivalents, and specific functional categories of electronic records (economic, social, scientific, diplomatic, etc.). Appraisal options and strategies, with group exercises, will be included.

TECHNICAL APPRAISAL
The role of the archivist in technical appraisal, and the factors that need to be assessed: assuming the information contained in the computer system is appraised as valuable and worthy of long-term archival preservation, how does the archivist decide which snapshot, view, or state of the data to designate for archival preservation? What are the options available for transactional data and office systems? The role of allied computer specialists will be explored.

AGREEMENTS OR TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR ARCHIVAL TRANSFER
Working through examples for electronic records, plus privacy and retention issues, costs, media, monitoring arrangements, actual vs. virtual archives, PRO precedents, etc.

PRIVATE-SECTOR COMPUTING AND TECHNOLOGICAL OBSOLESCENCE
Addressing strategies for the archiving of non-institutional and non-governmental electronic records now being created by many private individuals, families, and groups, and practical solutions some archives have adopted.

ACCESSIONING, PROCESSING, STORAGE AND CONSERVATION, REFERENCE SERVICE/PRIVACY ISSUES
The twenty-two steps for establishing a comprehensive electronic records programme will be explored, and all the processes that electronic records undergo once they have been designated as having archival value: transfer, accessioning, processing, description, creating public use data sets, physical and logical preservation, reference use, etc.

ARCHIVAL THEORY AND ELECTRONIC RECORDS
A discussion of how our profession may be changing because of digital records and their impact of core archival principles. Future and desirable directions. Workshop summary and wrap-up.