Will the same cloud computing companies still be around in a few hundred years? Universities wonder who should be responsible for maintaining digital archives
“Libraries used to be the main stewards of the cultural and scientific record. But in the era of digital storage “cloud computing,” the institutions best-positioned to manage vast quantities of data are often companies such as Google and Elsevier.
“That is a big problem, said James Hilton, the chief information officer at the University of Virginia, in a talk on Thursday here at Educause.
“For all their current stability and rhetorical commitments to preserving their records, Google and Elsevier cannot be trusted with the task of digital preservation in the long term, said Hilton.
“The Virginia CIO recalled meeting with representatives from Elsevier back when he was an interim library director at the University of Michigan. “We were talking about this problem of digital preservation,” he said. “And Elsevier’s response was, ‘We got it, don’t worry about it; we were Galileo’s publisher, we’ve been around for hundreds of years, we got it.’ ”
“But Elsevier’s stewardship of its archive thus far is no guarantee that the contents of that archive will be safe if the company does not pull off the rare feat of surviving hundreds more years, Hilton said. The safety of those hundreds of years’ worth of research literature, he said, should not depend on the fortune of any single entity, let alone one whose priorities are oriented to its bottom line.”
From Steve Kolowich’s article for Insider Higher Ed, Giving Digital Preservation a Backbone
“The Hive” is an effort by the National Archives of Australia to get the public involved with transcribing archives for digital use
“The National Archives of Australia (NAA) has made a bold step into the cultural heritage crowdsourcing arena with ‘The Hive’ which was released two weeks ago. The brand makes a clever play on the word ‘Archive’ combined with the idea of a hive of working bees (the public). The site encourages the public to transcribe archive records.
“This is a type of the co-design, citizen first activity… drawing on the interest and enthusiasm of the community to bring more of our archives into view – discoverable and retrievable…Access will be online and everywhere, improved by rich new data visualisation techniques and expanded descriptive contributions from an engaged citizenry”.
From Rose Holley’s blog Views and news on digital libraries and archives, National Archives of Australia embraces crowdsourcing and releases ‘The Hive’
Danish library works to increase access to older documents through free on-demand scanning project
“The Royal Library opens an experimental service, which will be available until the end of 2014. The offer is primarily directed at scholars, but is open to everybody. Books from the National Collection of Danish books, is normally only available for use in The Royal Library’s reading room. But now, a digital copy can be ordered with just a few clicks, and at no charge. The project has to purposes:
“- to make older Danish prints available for everybody;
“- to minimize wear and tear on the original.
“Books, that have been digitized, is available online for everybody, so that everyone can have access to their own digital copy of Danish classics, such as the printed works H. C. Andersen or Søren Kierkegaard.
“And it is easy: you find the title in REX (the OPAC of The Royal Library), ask for it to be digitized, and when it is ready for use, you will receive an e-mail with a link. Note that only monographs are included in the offer, not periodicals or newspapers.”
From The Royal Library press release, E-books on demand of Danish books 1701-1900 – at no charge
Digital Library of Georgia works to find and digitize content for the DPLA
“The Digital Library of Georgia, based at the University, is working with the Digital Public Library of America to create a national library of information that is freely available to anyone with Internet access.
“Digital Public Library of America began as an idea in October 2010 and has grown to encompass seven “hub sites” in different states. As a hub site, Digital Library of Georgia works with smaller institutions and libraries throughout the state to gain resources which can be digitized and included on Digital Public Library of America.
“Sheila McAlister, associate director of Digital Library of Georgia, said it is a portion of Digital Public Library of America which focuses on regional and Georgia-related history. While Digital Public Library of America is its own entity, Digital Library of Georgia is a project at the University and part of GALILEO. It is not a solitary organization.
“Digital Library of Georgia is reaching out to historical societies, libraries and museums and giving those places a chance to propose what from their collections should be digitized and made available on Digital Public Library of America. McAlister said she hopes these suggestions will be in by January so Digital Library of Georgia can set priorities for obtaining and digitizing documents.
“One issue Digital Library of Georgia has encountered is the amount of time it takes to digitize documents and prepare them to be included on Digital Public Library of America.
“One of the issues we have is that it’s time-consuming. People expect that putting things on the Internet is you just scan it and put it up there,” McAlister said. “Sure, we could do it that way, but it wouldn’t be helpful to people. Really, what you need is to be able to search for and find the things you’re looking for.”
“She also said some complications may arise through updating file formats and making sure information keeps up with the times of technology. Digital files are more fragile than most would think, McAlister said, and digital preservation is an ongoing process.”
From Erica Techo’s article for The Red & Black, UGA strives to make digital history
Disappointed by loss in the October 10th ruling, Authors Guild appeals HathiTrust court decision
“On November 8, the Authors Guild appealed the verdict in its case against the HathiTrust to the U.S. Court of Appeals Second Circuit.
“The Guild had filed suit against the Trust in 2011, alleging that the Trust’s digitization efforts constituted copyright infringement.
“However, on October 10, Judge Baer of the United States District Court Southern District of New York found overwhelmingly in favor of HathiTrust. He not only held that copying a work for purposes of search is in itself transformative, as is facilitating access for print-disabled persons, but also that the Guild and other U.S. associational plaintiffs don’t even have standing to sue, though the foreign associations might.”
View more information here
From Gary Price’s post on InfoDocket, Authors Guild Appeals HathiTrust Decision, Library Copyright Alliance Issues Statement