Feature


files are automatically ‘recognised’ and processed according to pre-set rules into an appropriate format that is as future- proof as possible.


Nothing human is alien However, no matter how cleverly technology is deployed, there’s no absolute defence against human error, which remains one of the major risks to digital content. After hardware failure, the


most common cause of data loss is user mistakes (at least it was in 2003, 2009 and 2015).


It is not uncommon that users will


unintentionally move files or delete content inadvertently. Strict user policies that separate


‘archives directories’ from ‘working directories’ where users can still edit and actively work with content, can protect against this risk.


So what to do now? Preservation is about identifying and managing risk. There are several questions to answer to help: has a data asset survey been completed? Who is generating data and who uses it? Where is it stored, and what is it worth? Finally, put policies in place to manage the preservation process.


Paul Stokes is senior co-design manager at Jisc


Why digital preservation has become more important in the time of Covid-19 A crisis requires rapid decision-making. Keeping a record of them is crucial now more than ever, says William Kilbride


Digital preservation is not going to do itself and it’s not going to go away, especially in light of the global pandemic. We need to act quickly to make sure that digital materials will be available for the long term.


When the UK went into lockdown,


everyone pivoted to digital in the space of two weeks. Teaching, learning and research are now taking place online and informal collaboration and video conference tools such as Zoom, WhatsApp and Microsoft Teams have become the platforms where key, history- making decisions take place. This raises the question: how do we


preserve these more informal platforms, and are we keeping record of these historic materials in times of crisis?


Rapid decisions The pandemic has prompted companies, universities, local authorities, non- departmental public bodies and quangos to make decisions rapidly, affecting the health, income and wellbeing of billions of people around the world.


Think of the hourly WhatsApp messages


from Downing Street and what they mean in terms of a process of decision-making. It all has to be accountable, as it is subject to the Public Records Act.


Routes out of lockdown Digital preservation will also play a key role in shaping a route out of the current health crisis. To get out of the pandemic we need a vaccine that works and is trusted. The research into a vaccine needs to be reproducible quickly with lots of eyes on it. In this post-truth era, it is crucial that


www.researchinformation.info | @researchinfo


Skills will drive innovation The sector is in great need of researchers


“The technology we now need to capture and preserve web content has changed and is changing as technology evolves”


this process is well documented and authenticated as its produced, because the last thing we need is anti-vaxxers disrupting the implementation of a cure. Preserving this research information can then be subject to the most robust scientific scrutiny, because there’s going to be all sorts of people who will try and find fault with it. Dependable, reliable, authentic data is essential to demonstrate that the creation of a vaccine isn’t a hoax.


Preservation needs continuous assessment What the global search for a vaccine also demonstrates is that the volume, complexity and importance of data is growing. For instance, when we look back on the history of the webpage, we see that web archiving has evolved tremendously. In the 90s, HTML code was embedded to write and design pages. Preserving this data involved making a


copy of the code and storing it somewhere safe. Since then the internet has evolved into a complex entity with all sorts of personalisation and audio and video files.


with better digital skills. Technological solutions have developed faster than the skills and policy development in the community. I believe that we need to prioritise the human element. Once we have that in place it will reveal the weaknesses of the technology and opportunities within the data that we are not currently fully exploiting.


Best practice by design Another element that needs addressing is how we keep records. Preservation is a global ubiquitous challenge. Instead of trying to solve the question of obsolesce at the end of a data lifecycle, we should be looking to move preservation upstream. It would be much better to build in preservation at the point of creation, or when it comes out of the machine. We are currently talking to archivists and librarians, but we will need to engage the people upstream who design and imagine digital infrastructures to integrate preservation at the outset. Software and healthcare organisations will need to talk to IT companies to solve this design flaw, and take responsibility for their data in a different way. We see companies and institutions spending more time looking at the depreciation of their furniture than the value of their data. If data is a valuable commodity, we ought to include it on the balance sheet and get the auditors to assess it. Data has become incredibly valuable but it only appears on balance sheets as a liability – not an asset.


William Kilbride is chair of the Digital Preservation Coalition


g February/March 2021 Research Information 11


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