9.1.3 Sharing archival responsibilities

9.1.3.1  Should an institution like to maintain archival responsibility for their collection a number of different scenarios may apply which do not require relinquishing the collection.

9.1.3.2  Producing digital audio objects in-house but entrusting digital preservation to another is one possibility. There are a number of ways this scenario could be enacted. One way, which seems most appropriate in academic institutions and universities, is where several units are engaged in the production and use of digital audio (and audiovisual) documents. Generally, such institutions have a central computer facility, very often with an existing responsibility for managing various digital objects. The data storage facility could take responsibility for the long term preservation of the created audio content. It is important, however, that the central unit would be fully acquainted with the specific of long term preservation of digital audio objects, and develops well defined rules for the production of archival files. The central unit would prescribe recording formats, resolution, annotation procedures, and other archival issues to be followed. Also, long term preservation tasks of that kind could also be fulfilled by private entrepreneurs. This concept would work for newly produced materials, specifically field recordings in various disciplines like anthropology, linguistics, ethnomusicology, and oral history.

9.1.3.3  Another way in which this scenario might be enacted is where a large collection exists with appropriate storage, transfer facilities and technical expertise, but where the infrastructure to support a digital storage facility is not developed enough to build a trustworthy digital repository. Under these circumstances the local facility may undertake the signal extraction and dispatch the resultant digital audio objects to the selected archive.

9.1.3.4  Should institutions, however, already have accumulated, though dispersed, analogue and historical digital originals, signal extraction from these originals to produce digital preservation files could be concentrated in one professionally equipped unit which could also be appended to the central computer unit. If the entire institution does not reach a critical amount of carriers, signal extraction should better be outsourced. The same is true if the institution does not have in-house expertise or equipment for professional digitisation.

9.1.3.5  In any of these scenarios, where a third party archive is to take responsibility for the ingest, management and preservation of the digital audio objects, it is imperative that there is a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of the various partners in the work. The ISO 20652:2006 “Data and information transfer systems -- Producer-archive interface -- Methodology abstract standard” identifies, defines and provides structure to the relationships and interactions between an information producer and an archive. It defines the methodology for the structure of actions that are required from the initial time of contact between the producer and the archive until the objects of information are received and validated by the archive. These actions cover the first stage of the ingest process as defined in the open archival information system (OAIS) reference model (see ISO 14721). http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?c...