Purpose
Digital preservation activities work to advance the mission of the University of Rochester in accordance with the University's vision and values. As such, the Digital Preservation Framework outlines the responsibilities and strategic priorities of the galleries, libraries, archives, and museums at the University of Rochester (GLAMUR), as trusted stewards of digital assets in the University's custody, and it describes the decision-making framework, core values, mandates, guiding principles, and considerations that guide digital preservation activities and how assets are selected for inclusion in the digital preservation service.
Core Values
The core values of the digital preservation service are drawn from the University of Rochester's Mission, Vision and Values, and the River Campus Libraries Vision, Values, and Priorities. GLAMUR will uphold these values as follows-
- Access - commits to making digital assets widely available, in an unmediated fashion if/when possible, through the use of open standards as the end goal of digital preservation.
- Accountability - adheres to ethical policies and workflows, respects intellectual property rights and privacy considerations, and includes cultural considerations in their work.
- Inclusivity - strives to empathically and inclusively engage in their work to increase diversity and equity, and enable ease of digital accessibility in regard to their collections.
- Portability/Interoperability - designs a digital preservation service so that digital assets and associated metadata can move between systems and platforms without being locked into a particular technology.
- Security - complies with best practices around security to safeguard those digital assets entrusted to our care, and to satisfy legal, donor, and contractual requirements.
- Sustainability - champions the digital preservation service such that the technical, financial, and human resources required will be sufficient and appropriate for the long-term viability of the service.
- Transparency - embraces open technologies and standards; shares UR-generated policies, workflows, ingest prioritization, and statistics with users and the larger cultural heritage community.
- User Centered - centers the needs of their internal and external users in the digital preservation service and are responsive to how those needs might change over time.
Mandates
GLAMUR have a variety of responsibilities and obligations in providing a successful and accountable digital preservation service, in accordance with the vision of the University of Rochester to "...continue to frame and solve the greatest challenges of the future." This emphasis on the future necessitates the careful preservation of digital assets to fulfill this ambitious vision. These mandates are in accordance with the University's values of Accountability and Openness, as well as the University's strategic goals of research excellence and global reputation, exceptional undergraduate and graduate education, and sustainable growth. Additional mandates include the University Archives Policy, the Policy on Retention of University Records, and the University Copyright Policy. GLAMUR will uphold these mandates as follows-
- Teaching and Learning - supports the teaching and learning of the University faculty and students with the preservation and dissemination of digital assets that support the educational process.
- Research - preserves the unique scholarly output of its students, staff, and faculty, including publications, research data, digital projects, and new forms of scholarship that arise over time.
- Cultural Heritage - are entrusted with the custody of unique and distinctive collections that are components of humanity's shared cultural heritage and have a responsibility to safeguard these resources for future access and to share them as widely as possible.
- Institutional Records - preserves the institutional records of UR to ensure the persistence of the history of the organization over time.
- Legal Agreements - acts in accordance with all federal and state laws requiring retention of institutional records, satisfies all requirements laid out in donor agreements in which archival records are transferred into GLAMUR custody. Ensures compliance with funder contracts regarding the preservation and sharing of scholarly outputs and research data, as well as all contracts and memoranda of understanding with vendors and consortia partners.
Guiding Principles
These principles form the foundation for how digital assets will be selected for preservation in the Digital Preservation Service. Due to resource limitations, not all assets covered by the principles below will be digitally preserved right away, or at all.
- Born Digital and Digitized Assets - The fragile nature of digital assets necessitates prioritization...
- of collections where the intellectual content was created in a digital format.
- of digitized materials where the original carrier no longer exists or is too fragile to be accessed, and to a lesser degree, where the original carrier still exists and is accessible, with a goal of valuing staff labor and reducing duplication of work wherever possible
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion - GLAMUR highly prioritize digital assets for preservation that...
- encourage, support and celebrate people of all races and places of origin, people with disabilities, people of diverse religious beliefs, sexualities and gender identities, and the most vulnerable in our community.
- are reparative of the cultural record regarding marginalized communities.
- are important to the scholarship of members of marginalized communities.
- Collection Priorities - Digital assets closely aligned with the collection development policies of the University are prioritized, which...
- document the history of the University through institutional records.
- are closely aligned with areas of collecting strength already present in GLAMUR.
Considerations
The nature of digital preservation carries a high dependence on technological platforms that frequently change. As such this decision-making framework addresses the long-term lifecycle of digital preservation, but does not address any particular software platforms, as these are bound to change over time.
The work of sustaining a digital preservation service requires an ongoing allocation of financial, human, and technical resources, which will be variable in nature as particular aspects of the service continue to evolve and keep pace with technological changes over time. Should the necessary resources not be allocated, aspects of the digital preservation service may be challenging or impossible to execute.
Review Cycle
The Digital Preservation Framework shall be reviewed every two years in July by relevant stakeholders in the University of Rochester Libraries. The next review of this Framework is scheduled for July of 2023, whereupon it will be reviewed and updated in accordance with the strategic plans for both the University of Rochester and the River Campus Libraries both released in 2023.
Written: 2022-02-09 – 2022-03-30
Updated: 2023-01-12
Approved by River Campus Libraries Senior Leadership Team 2023-01-26
Updated: 2023-10-19
