Digital data

Scenario:-

You have been asked to give an introductory talk on implementing a digital preservation programme at the National Library of New Zealand. You will have 2000 words to give a high-level overview of the risks to digital data, the responsibilities of curating and preserving the data and the principles of creating a digital archive or repository.

Select the information organisation you will represent. This can be anything from an archive, library, business, or other types of organisation required to preserve digital data for long-term use. Your audience will be of a similar domain and will understand the type of digital data and associated risks you discuss. Be aware that the information organisation you select will have a direct impact on the type of digital data you collect and some of the curation and preservation decisions you will make.

The aim of the presentation is to provide the audience with an understanding of the principles, key aspects, practices and challenges of digital curation and preservation in your chosen organisation and domain. You should think about the audience’s needs and deliver a presentation that will enable them to return to their home organisations and implement a digital curation and preservation system for their digital data.

The audience will be computer literate but have little or no understanding of digital curation and preservation.

The script should demonstrate that you:

• Can communicate the need for digital curation and preservation in your chosen information organisation;
• Have identified the key issues that attendees will need to address in order to curate and preserve digital data at different stages within the curation and preservation lifecycles in their organisations;
• Can explain the digital curation and preservation concepts, tools and technologies their organisations will need to understand and implement;
• Have examined and critically analysed the challenges the various organisations will face.

Write the 2,000-word as if you were addressing the audience, i.e. it is what you would say to the audience if you were actually delivering the presentation to them in person. Your script should include in-text citations, and a list of references should be included at the end – the reference.

RATIONALE

This assessment task will assess the following learning outcome/s:

• Be able to demonstrate understanding of the need for digital curation and preservation in public and private organisations.
• Be able to identify and critically assess theoretical and practical issues in digital curation and preservation.
• Be able to explain digital curation and preservation concepts, terms, tools and technologies.
• Be able to demonstrate understanding of the digital curation and preservation lifecycles and identify the activities associated with each stage.
• Be able to examine and critically analyse the challenges associated with data and information sharing.

Solution: