Digital Preservation Policy for the PFA Library and Film Study Center. Paul Grammatico. San Jose State University

Transcription

1 Running Head: DIGITAL PRESERVATION POLICY Digital Preservation Policy for the PFA Library and Film Study Center Paul Grammatico San Jose State University

2 Introduction According to Nancy Goldman, the Head of the PFA Library and Film Study Center, along with Jason Saunders, Film Notes Writer and Film Research Associate and Michael Campos-Quinn, Cataloguer and Indexer, The PFA Film Library has made steady but slow progress on management and preservation of their digital resources. This has been pursued despite the PFA s limited resources, time, and funding. The PFA has over 11,000 films in their collections. They have the largest Japanese film collection outside of Japan along with a large portion of Soviet silent films. Their film preservation consists mainly of independent and experimental films along with other films that meet their collective aims. They accept donations selectively, provides longterm storage for films, and preservation when funding permits. Much of their ephemeral materials (digitized news and magazine clippings, press kits, and still photos) are stored in a closed website called Research Hub ( which is a storage facility for active use and a database website that is open to the public called CineFiles ( which is open to the public and was created in For long-term storage, certain collections and materials are stored at the UC3 Merritt Repository ( which has redundancy in certain locations. They perform checksums for the digital assets within their repository. They also store the checksums and perform regular and continuous fixity checks on all of their content. They calculate a new checksum for the file in storage and compare it to the checksum that was initially generated. They perform this cycle through the 12 million plus files that are currently in their system.

3 Scope The scope of the PFA is very large at the moment. There are several projects going on: Digitization of news and magazine clippings regarding certain films (Michael Campos- Quinn is heading this up). They have been digitizing clippings of relevant films since They have since scaled back on the clipping digitization, focusing on relevant materials on certain films. Digitization of audiocassettes of questions and answers with filmmakers (40 years worth of these materials Digital recordings go from 2006-Present. Some are digital but the majority are analog on audiocassettes that are in the process of being digitized). 5 years of digital press kits (a promotional package consisting of digital stills and documents that pertain to a certain film) have been built up and transferred from their CDs to one of the PFA computers and are being backed up on an external hard drive. I have been heading this up and am currently creating descriptive metadata for these digital stills via Adobe Bridge. Since the scope of the projects are huge and very involved, I will only be dealing with the born digital materials and not the analog to digital ones. Risk Assessment Some of the collection could be at risk as some of the collection is still analog and is being converted into digital assets and a concrete preservation policy has not been implemented for both analog to digital and also born digital materials.

4 The digital press kits are currently on one computer and one external hard drive backup. Redundancy needs to be created so that these digital assets can be stored in different locations. The digital audio files are currently in various audio formats and do not have a protocol that states that a digital audio file must be in a certain standardized format so as to provide consistency throughout the collection. I will be working with the PFA to establish a concrete digital audio protocol and preservation policy over the summer. The PFA and Film Study Center will be moving to a seismically safe building in downtown Berkeley in 2016 (the structure they are currently in is not). The drawback to the new space is the square footage is smaller that what we currently have. Thus, there will have to be decisions made on certain collections and where they will be stored. Needs Our born digital resources (i.e. digital press kits, digital audio) must continue the descriptive metadata process and then be converted to an administrative and preservation metadata processes in order to maintain preservation of these digital assets. Migration needs to be discussed and metadata needs to reflect any changes that are made. According to the UC3 Merritt repository, they do not do any format migrations however, they do migrate content to different data centers and they are currently in the process of migrating Merritt content from the UCOP data center in Oakland ( to the SDSC cloud service ( They check to see if all of the bits have migrated. The PFA must make sure that all of their digital assets are going

5 or are going to go through some type of migration if the Merritt repository is not performing this function. Project/Purpose To continue to create descriptive metadata for the digital press kits and to eventually place them on the Berkeley Research Hub and CineFiles while also creating a structural, administrative, and preservation metadata for the websites and preservation for long-term storage at the UC3 Merritt Repository. Goals and Objectives To continue to create descriptive metadata and work on structural, administrative, and preservation metadata for digital press kit stills and to convert captions and production notes of the press kits from proprietary to non-proprietary formats by 2015 in order to store these digital assets into long-term storage into the UC3 Merritt repository. Organizational Commitments Currently they are doing descriptive metadata that they have recently mined from the digital press kit CDs and they are doing these materials from A to Z in order to deposit these on Research Hub and CineFiles. For future metadata, it will have to be determined what will be the selection process of certain materials and what will be a priority. Nancy Goldman or whoever is the Head of the PFA Library and Film Study Center at that time will decide this. A policy needs to be created when any digital assets are created into the system (i.e. the most current format available if old formats are dug up).

6 Financial Commitments For the digital stills and other important documents regarding these stills, file archiving costs will have to be determined. These will include web derivative online storage, Research Hub near-line storage, and UC3 Merritt dark storage plus local backups as stated in the PFA Digital Resource Management Plan Outline from August 27, 2013 (see Appendix). Preservation Metadata A decision needs to be made on what standard (if any) that these digital objects will conform to the standards that are established by a specific organization (NARA, DLF, etc.). Training/Education The staff will continue to train the volunteers on certain preservation protocol. The staff or volunteers can train other staff members or volunteers if needed. Evaluation or Updating This preservation plan will be revised annually and ed to staff members and volunteers. This will also be put on the PFA website. Conclusion The PFA Library and Film Study Center has made slow but steady strides on digital preservation. Analog to digital processes along with born digital materials metadata, they are currently on the right track in regards to these digital assets. The process needs to continue on these assets as these materials could be in jeopardy if these processes slow or stop for any reason.

7 References BAM/PFA Film and Video Collection. (n.d.). Retrieved from Establishing a Digital Preservation Policy. (n.d.). Retrieved from Meeting the Challenge of Media Preservation: Strategies and Solutions. (2011). Retrieved from Merritt Share, Manage, and Preserve your content. (n.d.). Retrieved from NEDCC Digital Preservation Policy Template. (n.d.). Retrieved from Research Hub University of California Berkeley. (n.d.). Retrieved from Work starts on the new Berkeley Art Museum, to open in (2013). Retrieved from

8 Best Practices Survey Preserving Digital Public Television. (n.d.). Retrieved from evision.pdf

9 Appendix Digital Resources Management Plan Outline August 27, 2013 draft (reformatted ) Introduction The BAM/PFA has made slow but steady progress on improving management of its digital resources over the last couple of years, despite limited financial support for these activities. We have migrated 1 Terabyte of content from the former campus repository Portfolio/Media Vault to the new repository Research Hub and have established filenaming conventions and basic policies for most digital file types. We wrote training documents and encouraged all Museum staff to attend training sessions on using Research Hub. Michael Campos-Quinn, Dave Taylor, and Andrew Chang have "de-duped," or removed duplicate files, from our existing art collection images and Andrew wrote a program to embed appropriate metadata into the de-duped art collection images. These are now on Research Hub awaiting quality control and verification, to be done this Fall. In addition, master scans have been created for over 1,000 works from the Conceptual Art Study Center and their catalog records have been created or enhanced. This document outlines activities needed to further develop digital resources management at BAM/PFA. I. Policies and Protocols (both for collection images and other digital resources including installation images, exhibition images, film stills, museum event images, audio, video, etc.) A. Filenaming conventions and folder organization 1. Filenaming conventions, folder organization have been established for most materials except for large audio and video files. Documents detailing these policies are available in Box under Institution_Wide > General Staff Information > Research Hub Guidelines. 2. More work on encouraging staff to comply with these conventions is needed. We plan to create "cheat sheets" specific to each type of resource and continue individual trainings to improve compliance. 3. Establish filenaming conventions, storage specifications and handling procedures for large files, such as audio and video recordings as well as film and video preservation transfers. 4. Research and establish any additional protocols needed regarding born-digital objects. B. Descriptive metadata requirements

10 1. We have already established minimal metadata requirements for Research Hub, and for embedding in art collection images. 2. Need to work with Andrew to design easy-to-use method to embed metadata in images using Bridge or other system 3. Need plan to encourage staff to enter required minimal metadata in Research Hub. C. Administrative metadata requirements 1. Need to determine whether any technical metadata beyond information that is automatically generated needs to be entered and where it should go. Technical metadata includes scan date, resolution, compression, storage format, filetype (when and how the digital object was created; image quality specifications). 2. Preservation metadata - information needed to archive and preserve the file. Need to determine if we should be collecting such information beyond what is generated automatically and where to store. 3. Rights management - information about management and ownership of digital objects. Need to determine what metadata to collect and where to enter. D. Image handling and workflow 1. Creation of derivatives a. Current CASC grant for example only funds creation of a master image with a color bar; additional staff time needs to be identified and allocated to create a second, cropped copy minus the color bar as well as smaller, web-ready derivatives. 2. Draft detailed procedures on image capture and storage on Research Hub as well as storage on Merritt repository. Include process and identify staff resources for creating access copies and transferring them to the appropriate location for use on website. 3. Devise and implement quality control procedures E. Devise and implement storage specifications (includes near-line and dark archiving) F. Develop and implement access policies including copyright permissions procedures; allocate staffing to copyright permissions clearance. II. Goals and priorities A. Identify number of art works needing photography or scanning. B. Designate areas of collection to prioritize going forward - identify key object to prioritize, key areas of collections. C. Staffing and costs 1. Determine who is involved in which activities - cataloging/metadata creation; scanning or photography; quality control; image storage and archiving; copyright clearance. 2. Determine time estimates for each of these areas per type of

11 object/ activity needed (for example, CASC project is averaging 18 minutes per page for flatbed scanning and metadata creation and 60 minutes per record for cataloging (30 minutes per record for enhancing existing cataloging or 70 minutes per record for new cataloging). For the CASC grant we estimated photography at 1.5 hours per work on average at a cost of $60.00 per hour, or roughly $90 per work to photograph (this does not include metadata creation). We also estimated 3 hours per work for copyright clearance. For this management plan we need more detailed breakdowns of time required for metadata creation; creating cropped copies and derivatives for web use and transferring them to correct online locations; other technical procedures such as backup; and quality control. Need to determine who does what in order to estimate salary expense. 3. Determine equipment costs/ file archiving costs a. equipment costs include photographic and studio equipment and supplies; scanning equipment, maintenance, repairs; other computing equipment, local computer backup equipment and storage media; connectivity b. File archiving costs include web derivative online storage; Research Hub near-line storage; Merritt dark storage plus local backups?) D. Timeline III. Digitization Work Plan (includes digital capture and metadata creation/enhancement) A. First Day Forward newly acquired artworks 1. Routinely request and upload high-resolution images and metadata as available as part of new acquisitions process 2. Request and document copyright permissions for electronic display and preservation/migration a. artist questionnaire 3. Devise plan for works that do not already have photography supplied by acquisition source requires additional resources 1. Determine priorities B. Legacy artworks 1. Set priorities a. Grant-funded - currently CASC and NEH projects b. future funding opportunities 2. Estimate costs, including additional staffing, and including securing copyright permissions 3. Explore feasibility and resources needed to tie imaging into collection relocation within timeline - what to prioritize if feasible

12 4. Improving metadata for already digitized works - including 1. What is feasible financially in a first phase to improve embedded and Research Hub metadata 2. What financial resources would be required to expand cataloging in FileMaker database to include subject or other expanded access and add this data to Research Hub and website. C. Other legacy resources identified in 2010 inventory that are not yet in Research Hub. These include many installation images, Design Office files, Museum events, digital press kits, etc. The 2010 inventory identified roughly 3.5 Terabytes of such legacy resources. 1. Set priorities a. Determine course of action for low priority assets - perhaps simply transfer to LTO drive for backup, with security and migration plan 2. Estimate costs and establish timeline for managing low and higher priority legacy digital resources D. Special issues for other collections 1. Determine workflow/filenaming/storage/preservation plans for larger digital files like ones of moving images and audio that cannot economically be stored in Research Hub 2. Plan future digitization of other materials a. Could include legacy art exhibition files, PFA posters, stills, archival papers, documents b. Develop procedures for current exhibition files IV. Digital Preservation A. Develop short- and long-term digital preservation plan for all digital assets 1. With Orlando, determine institutional preservation plan beyond services provided by current campus shared services for other materials, such as Word documents, files stored on box.com, other campus backup. 2. Establish and implement preservation protocols for digital resources covered in this plan