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Long-term archiving: Completed projects

Laptop, project report and coffee cups on a conference table

The German National Library is constantly expanding its digital long-term archive and infrastructure for processing digital objects by means of national and international cooperative projects. We will continue developing the digital long-term archive in cooperation with other institutes in the future.

Project overview

Electronic dissertations plus (eDissPlus)

Project description

The eDissPlus project is being carried out by the German National Library in cooperation with the Humboldt University of Berlin and is being funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). The objectives of the project are to design and develop a prototype integrated system for archiving and publishing the research data generated or used by doctoral students as part of their dissertation project. Both organisational and technical models should be analysed, tested, developed and the resulting prototype implemented. A further objective is to develop consultation and other services to provide practical support for doctoral students in the creation and management of research data.

The German National Library is performing the following tasks:

  • Expansion of the existing workflow for the legal deposit of dissertations with the German National Library to enable research data belonging to dissertations (including descriptive and technical metadata) to be transmitted as OAIS-compliant information packages to the German National Library.
  • Expansion of the URN service or the development of similar services which allow the acquired research data to be identified, addressed and linked to the corresponding thesis on a persistent basis.
Project website

https://www2.hu-berlin.de/edissplus/

Project framework

Funding body

German Research Foundation (DFG)

Partners
  • Humboldt University in Berlin
  • German National Library
Duration

1 June 2016 to 31 December 2018

Contact

Sabine Schrimpf
s.schrimpf@dnb.de

Using emulation for the provision of multimedia objects (EMiL)

Project description

Continuous technological change is threatening the long term preservation of the content and functionality of digital objects for scientists and researchers. For complex interactive multimedia objects (e.g. multimedia objects, digital works of art, scientific simulations) and the related exacting user demands for authentic provision, the emulation process is much more suitable than migration as a preservation and provision strategy. A great deal of research has already been carried out on migration and it is included as a separate module by a number of preservation repositories, whereas only limited practical experience has been gained in using emulation to provide digital archival objects to users as part of the services of memory institutions.

The main aim of the project, therefore, was to evaluate the proposals and components developed in previous emulation research projects, to assess their practicability and to optimise them with in-house developments for the purpose of creating a system which is perfectly adapted to the needs of the memory institutions and their users.

The key features of the EMiL (Emulation of Multimedia Objects in Libraries) provision system are its user-friendliness and high degree of automation. Standardised interfaces to search and long-term preservation systems allow the system to be re-used in other memory institutions.

Project homepage

Emil-Homepage in the Web Archive of the German National Library

Project framework

Funding body

German Research Foundation (DFG)

Coordination

German National Library

Partners
  • Bavarian State Library
  • The Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design (HfG)
  • German National Library
  • University of Freiburg - IT Services
Duration

15 June 2014 to 30 September 2016

Contact

Tobias Steinke
t.steinke@dnb.de

Collaboration to Clarify the Costs of Curation (4C)

Project description

The objective of the 4C project was to identify and bundle relevant projects and initiatives working in the field of long-term preservation costs and to make these accessible to interested groups. How to make existing cost calculation tools more practical for users in public and private institutions was also investigated.

Systems and infrastructures for long-term digital preservation are expensive to set up and maintain. There is still little experience to draw upon and so many institutions base their long-term preservation activities on rough estimates. However, reliable cost data and cost models are needed in order to plan and calculate long-term preservation projects more accurately.

Results
  • Curation Costs Exchange (CCEx) - an online platform for the pooling of experience and cost information in the field of long-term digital preservation:
    http://www.curationexchange.org
  • 4C Roadmap, a document consisting of a vision and six central statements aimed at providing an overview of required action and responsibilities with regard to costs and cost calculation in long-term digital preservation over the next five years until the launch of the Horizon2020 Initiative:
    http://4cproject.eu/roadmap
Project homepage

http://www.4cproject.eu/

Project framework

Funding

European Commission, Seventh European Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development

Partners
  • Higher Education Funding Council for England (for JISC) – overall project management
  • The Royal Library, Denmark
  • INESC-ID (Portuguese IT institute)
  • Danish National Archives
  • German National Library
  • University of Glasgow
  • University of Essex
  • KEEP Solutions
  • Digital Preservation Coalition
  • Verein zur Förderung der IT-Sicherheit in Österreich
  • University of Edinburgh
  • Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW)
  • National Archives of Estonia
Duration

1 February 2013 to 31 January 2015

Contact

Sabine Schrimpf
s.schrimpf@dnb.de

Alliance for Permanent Access to the Records of Science in Europe Network (APARSEN)

Project description

The four-year APARSEN (Alliance for Permanent Access to the Records of Science in Europe Network) project dedicated to long-term digital accessibility challenges in the fields of culture and science was launched in 2011. It was funded by the European Commission. By the end of 2014, 30 institutions had pooled their research in the field of long-term digital accessibility under the APARSEN umbrella with the aim of jointly raising research to a new level.

Despite efforts made in past EU framework programmes for research, the research landscape in the field of long-term digital preservation is still often characterised by time-limited and regionally fragmented projects. Countless libraries, archives, university institutions in Europe and worldwide, for instance, are working concurrently on solutions aimed at preserving the usability of known and future data formats. The objective of APARSEN was to form a virtual competence centre for long-term digital preservation at least for the European region, with the aim of creating a "Virtual Centre of Excellence in Digital Preservation".

In order to integrate their wide-ranging activities, the project partners subdivided the project into four main topic areas:

  1. Trust
  2. Sustainability
  3. Access
  4. Usability

The German National Library contributes, amongst others, to these work packages

  • Digital Preservation Standards
  • Persistent Identifiers
  • Digital Rights
  • Certification of trustworthy digital archives
  • Cost/benefit modeling
  • Business cases
Project homepage

http://www.alliancepermanentaccess.org

Project framework

Funding

European Commission, Seventh Framework Programme

Duration

1 January 2011 to 31 December 2014

Further information

All the project results and reports can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.alliancepermanentaccess.org/index.php/aparsen/aparsen-deliverables.

Contact

Sabine Schrimpf
s.schrimpf@dnb.de

LuKII - LOCKSS and KOPAL infrastructure and interoperability

Project description

The aim of the project was to achieve interoperability between the distributed LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) archive system and the archive system set up in the externer linkBMBF-sponsored kopal project. The LOCKSS system, which is well established within academic circles in the USA in particular, provides open-source software which permits low-cost storage with built-in redundancy for all networked LOCKSS partners in the form of a peer-to-peer network. The design of the kopal system was based on the OAIS reference model and contains open-source components for long-term preservation aspects such as the migration of archived objects.

The project involved setting up a LOCKSS network in Germany. Metadata enrichment permitting targeted format migration was carried out based on concepts and software from the kopal project. Scenarios were also evaluated in which a LOCKSS network is used as a low-cost storage system within the kopal system.

Results

http://www.lukii.hu-berlin.de/standardseite?set_language=en&cl=en

Project framework

Coordination

Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (project management)

Project partners
  • Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
  • German National Library
Duration

1 November 2009 to 31 August 2012

Contact

Tobias Steinke
t.steinke@dnb.de

Keeping Emulation Environments Portable (KEEP)

Project description

In the KEEP project, an emulation platform has been developed which is designed to reproduce static and dynamic objects as precisely as possible: text, sounds, images, multimedia documents, websites, databases, video games etc. Long-term accessibility of the cultural heritage has been ensured by the development of flexible access tools and the storage of a wide range of digital objects.

The project also included the development of an emulation framework which manages different emulators and triggers them automatically. A legal study investigated the underlying conditions for emulation in Europe, focusing particularly on the handling of disk images and their use for long-term preservation. Other aspects of the research included metadata for long-term preservation and the development of a virtual machine for simplifying the porting of emulators.

Results

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/rcn/89496/factsheet/en

Project framework

Funding

Europäische Kommission, Siebtes Europäisches Forschungsrahmenprogramm

Partners
  • Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
  • Bibliotheque Nationale de France (BnF)
  • Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB)
  • Joguin
  • Computerspielemuseum Berlin
  • University of Portsmouth (UP)
  • Cross Czech
  • Tessella
  • European Games Developer Federation
Duration

2009 to 2012

Contact

Tobias Steinke
t.steinke@dnb.de

Digital Preservation for Libraries (DP4lib)

Project description

The aim of the Digital Preservation for Libraries (DP4lib) project was to create a long-term preservation infrastructure that was as sustainable and flexible as possible. With this in mind, the German National Library and Göttingen State and University Library (SUB) cooperated with other partners to build on the technical and functional results of the kopal project. These became the basis for the development of both a technical infrastructure and the service and operating models required to set up long-term preservation services. Moreover, a cost model was created within the project with which the costs of these services could be calculated.

Results

http://dp4lib.langzeitarchivierung.de (available only in German)

Project framework

Funding

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft DFG

Partners
  • German National Library
  • Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen (SUB)
  • Bibliotheksservice-Zentrum Baden-Württemberg (BSZ)
  • German Institute for International Educational Research (DIPF)
  • Head Office of the Union Library Network (VZG)
  • Saxon State and University Library Dresden (SLUB)
  • German National Library of Science and Technology (TIB)
  • Thüringer Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Jena (ThULB)
Duration

December 2009 to February 2012

Contact

Sabine Schrimpf
s.schrimpf@dnb.de

Insight into issues of Permanent Access to the Records of Science in Europe (PARSE.Insight)

Project description

The aim of the European project "Insight into issues of Permanent Access to the Records of Science in Europe" (Parse.Insight) was to investigate the current state of long time preservation in the area of scientific primary data and scientific publications. The results of this study should help to guideline the development of a European digital infrastructure to ensure accessibility and long term preservation of digital records of science. To this end the project created an inventory of the current long term preservation projects within the sciences, arts and humanities. This inventory was then compared with the individual needs of selected disciplines. This comparison pointed out the areas of additional need for support to build a networked long term preservation infrastructure for digital scientific primary data and publications.

Results

After the project was completed, the results and experience gained flowed into the APARSEN project.

Project framework

Funding

European Commission, Seventh Framework Programme

Coordination

Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) (project co-ordination)

Partners
  • Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) (project co-ordination)
  • Koninklijke Bibliotheek (KB)
  • Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
  • Max Planck Society (MPG)
  • International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM)
  • European Space Agency (ESA)
  • FernUniversität in Hagen
  • European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN)
  • Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen (SUB)
Duration

1 April 2008 to 30 June 2010

Contact

Sabine Schrimpf
s.schrimpf@dnb.de

MultivalentSustaining Heritage Access through Archiving (SHAMAN)

Project description

The mandate of the SHAMAN project was to develop the conceptual and technical basis for the new generation of linked long-term preservation systems.

The first step was to analyse existing systems, institutional approaches, technologies and archiving processes as the basic requirement for the development of an internationally linked preservation infrastructure. Components, services, interfaces and specifications were then defined in an open, expandable framework concept while taking current long-term preservation standards into account. The use of GRID technologies facilitated the development of a distributed archiving infrastructure with which more complex, resource-intensive long-term preservation tasks could be handled. Prototypes of the concepts, technologies and services developed in SHAMAN were evaluated in test environments and real-life scenarios.

The German National Library supervised the development of a software prototype for archiving and providing access to book-like publications.

Project framework

Funding

European Commission, Seventh Framework Programme

Coordination

Work package “Document creation, archiving, access and subsequent use in the context of memory organisations for scientific and official collections”

Duration

2008 to 2011

Contact

Tobias Steinke
t.steinke@dnb.de

Co-operative Development of a Long-Term Digital Information Archive (KOPAL)

Project description

The objective of KOPAL was the practical testing and implementation of a co-operatively created and operated long-term archive system for digital information. As network partners, the German National Library, the Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen (SUB) and IBM Germany implemented a co-operatively operated solution, capable of subsequent re-use by others, for the long-term preservation of digital resources. The technical operation of the system is taken care of by the GesellsGesellschaft für Wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen (GWDG).

Results

The ingest and retrieval software produced by the network partners (koLibRI) has the status of Open Source software. Comprehensive and heterogeneous data have been fed into the system during the term of the project in order to prove the concept's capacity and usefulness. Since mid-2007, the archival system has been transferred into the productive use by the German National Library.

http://kopal.langzeitarchivierung.de/index.php.en

Project framework

Funding

Federal Ministry of Education and Research,
sub-project of the "Competency Network New Services, Standardisation, Metadata" project
(Kompetenznetzwerk Neue Dienste, Standardisierung, Metadaten)

Partners
  • German National Library
  • Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen (SUB)
  • IBM Deutschland
  • Gesellschaft für Wissenschaftliche Datenverarbeitung mbH Göttingen (GWDG)
Duration

2004 to 2007

Contact

Tobias Steinke
t.steinke@dnb.de

Network of Expertise in Long-term Storage of Digital Resources (NESTOR)

Project description

The objective of the project was to create a competence network of long-term archival storage and long-term availability of digital resources in Germany. The competence network should create structures, which ensure that digital resources in Germany are archived on a long-term basis, are secured and are made available for use. Through national and international co-operation, a contribution was achieved towards safeguarding our global cultural heritage. Within the project, the following range of choices were developed, among others

  • a Web-based information forum with various content options for long-term archival storage and long-term availability of digital resources in Germany
  • criteria for trusted digital repositories
  • suggestions for procedures for a certification system for digital archives
  • policies for long-term archival storage of digital resources
  • a work-structure for the long-term availability of digital resources in the museum area
  • co-ordination of division of duties and the assumption of long-term duties, especially in the delineation between the library, archive and museum areas

Project framework

Funding

The project was a sub-project of the project „Competence Network New Services, Standardisation, Metadata (Kompetenznetzwerk Neue Dienste, Standardisierung, Metadaten)“, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research,.

Partners

German National Library was in charge of carrying out the project in co-operation with

  • Bavarian State Library (BSB)
  • Humboldt University Library (Computer- und Medienservice)
  • FernUniversität in Hagen (since 2006)
  • Generaldirektion der Staatlichen Archive Bayerns (until 2006)
  • Institute for Museum Research (IfM)
  • Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen (SUB)
  • The Federal Archives (2005-2009)

Since July 2009, nestor is maintained on the basis of a cooperation agreement between its partners.

Duration

2003 to 2009

Contact

Sabine Schrimpf
s.schrimpf@dnb.de

Long-term Preservation of digital Documents in Germany

Project description

The objective of the project was to prepare a policy addressing issues of „Long-term Archiving and Accessibility of Digital Documents in Germany“

  • Preliminary effort towards producing a nationwide policy avoiding disparate, insular solutions
  • Extensive discussion of basic issues
  • Coordination and planning of activities for long-term preservation and accessibility of digital documents in Germany to enable a shared problem-solving approach
  • Establishing a communications network among participating members

The concept was presented and discussed with library professionals at two workshops held 29-30 October 2002 and 14 November 2002. The workshops were not primarily for informational purposes, but rather geared towards reaching a preliminary consensus for producing a nationwide long-term preservation and access policy. A concluding statement was formulated at the workshops to serve as a foundation for further activities and projects.

Project framework

Funding

This project was part of the larger project „Competence Network New Services, Standardisation, Metadata“, sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Duration

1 April to 30 November 2002

Contact

Sabine Schrimpf
s.schrimpf@dnb.de

Networked European Deposit Library (NEDLIB)

Project description

The European project NEDLIB investigated issues of long-term preservation and accessibility of electronic publications, involving the design of a basic European infrastructure and a functional demonstrator. Additional focuses were on assessing migration and emulation processes and drawing up standards for technical metadata. German National Library contributions to the project included an English-language compact version of the MMB (System for multimedia access) as a technical component of the demonstrator.

Results

https://www.kb.nl/en/organisation/research-expertise/research-on-digitisation-and-digital-preservation/publications-on-digital-preservation-and-digitization/the-nedlib-publications

Project framework

Funding

European Commission, Information Society Technologies Programme

Duration

1998 to 2000

Contact

Tobias Steinke
t.steinke@dnb.de

Last changes: 15.04.2019
Contact: t.steinke@dnb.de

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