WORKSHOP ON ARCHIVES: INGEST, IDENTIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION STANDARDS

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*** Please respond with your level of interest, as outlined below. ***

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The explosive growth of digital information and the need to successfully

archive these data are matters which are receiving a great deal of

attention from many organizations. The majority of this effort has been

directed toward accessing and retrieving archived data. However,

successful and efficient retrieval of data from an archive requires that

the data was successfully and efficiently ingested and identified by an

archive. It also requires that the archive follow appropriate policies

and procedures to ensure the information is understandable and usable

into the indefinite future. Appropriate standards can assist in meeting

these objectives.

These issues, and others, have been addressed at the conceptual level in

a reference model developed by a US ISO archiving group under ISO

TC20/SC13 and the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS).

This model, called the Reference Model for Open Archival Information

Systems (OAIS), is about to be released for formal ISO and CCSDS review.

This is an opportune time to see what additional standardization efforts

may be of interest and to plan for their initiation.

Given sufficient expressions of interest, the National Archives and

Records Administration (NARA) and the National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) are planning to host a Workshop on Data Archives:

Ingest, Identification and Certification on October 13 and 14, 1999 at

the NARA facilities in College Park, MD.

We are suggesting three primary topic areas for workshop focus and

possible standardization efforts:

- Ingest methodology and standardization: A methodology for the

interaction between an archive and its producers could greatly

facilitate the preparation and ingest of digital material,

simultaneously increasing quality and reducing costs. This might

cover preparation of the data and supporting material, the

archives' ingest of the data and supporting material, and the

interactions between the providers and the archives about the data

preparation and submission.

- Identification of data: Permanent, unique, identifiers for digital

objects retrievable from archives could significantly improve all

aspects of archive ingest and the use of digital information by end

users. There are several ongoing efforts that need to be

investigated in this context.

- Certification of archives: A method by which an Archive's

customers could gain confidence in the authenticity, quality, and

usefulness of digitally archived materials would help ensure

management that an archive was fulfilling its role of long term

preservation. This may look like a framework that could be

tailored for specific domains or archives as appropriate.

We envision the workshop as consisting of a review of papers submitted

on needs or approaches in each of the identified areas. We will attempt

to constrain the scope based on those who are willing to participate in

developing one or more standards in these areas. We will also attempt

to identify the forum in which the work is most likely to succeed.

There will be no registration fee and participants will be on their own

for hotel and transportation arrangements.

To gauge the level of interest and to firm up workshop organization,

this notice solicits an expression of your willingness to contribute.

Please check all items that apply and then identify yourself before

mailing to:

archive-standards@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov No Later Than 13 August, 1999

___ Will submit a paper and attend workshop

--- Ingest methodology/standardization

--- Identification of data

--- Certification of archives

--- Other :_______________________________

--- Will attend and willing to support a standardization effort

--- Ingest methodology/standardization

--- Identification of data

--- Certification of archives

--- Other :_______________________________

--- Will attend but don't expect to support a follow-on effort

--- Will not attend but willing to support a standardization effort

--- Ingest methodology/standardization

--- Identification of data

--- Certification of archives

--- Other :_______________________________

--- Take me off the distribution list - no interest in this area.

Identification of Respondent:

Name:___________________________________

Affiliation:____________________________

E-mail Address:_________________________

Phone No.:______________________________

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Donald M. Sawyer

Code 633 Ph: +1 301 286 2748

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Fx: +1 301 286 1771

Greenbelt MD 20771, USA Em: donald.sawyer@gsfc.nasa.gov