Using the papers of contemporary British politicians as a testbed for the preservation of digital personal archives

Abstract

Paradigm (Personal ARchives Accessible in DIGital Media) is an exemplar project to explore how archivists might select, acquire, process, store, preserve and provide access to the digital archives of individuals for the use of future researchers. Using the papers of contemporary British politicians as a testbed, the project team will evaluate existing and emerging theoretical and practical work in the fields of archival science and digital curation. We intend to learn from both disciplines and apply this knowledge to our exemplar scenario with the goal of striking a balance between theoretical principles and practical procedures. This article places the Paradigm project in the broader framework of digital preservation initiatives in the UK and abroad, introduces the key aims of Paradigm and outlines some of our initial findings. We also confront the implications of exponential growth in the creation of personal digital collections-from digital images, and music files to personal websites and blogs-and conclude with a discussion of what this means for the wider archival profession. 1 IntroductionThe Bodleian Library in Oxford and the John Rylands University Library in Manchester have long collected the personal archives of significant figures from all walks of life. These figures include among others academics, composers, diplomats, journalists, politicians, scientists and writers. Both institutions are convinced of the value of acquiring and preserving personal archives, and are conscious that if they are to continue collecting they must develop the capacity to manage and preserve hybrid paper and digital archival collections. At Oxford University Library Services (OULS), the catalyst for action on digital archives came in 2003 when OULS appointed a new 3 Understandably, both men are eager to develop the capacity to preserve digital archives in Oxford libraries. Staff at the Special Collections department of the John Rylands University Library (TRUL)are also interested in developing digital preservation expertise. In fact, archivists from the Library's Modern Literary Archives Programme have already begun some practical exploration in the area. In 2002, the Rylands' literary archivists joined forces with their peers elsewhere in the UK to embark on some small-scale experimentation with the preservation of writers' emails. They found that undertaking such exploratory work in their 'free time' severely limited what could be achieved: the work needed more staff time devoted to it, as well as dedicated IT expertise. The problem, at both institutions, was a lack of resources to examine the issue of digital preservation properly.In April 2004 a potential solution appeared on the horizon. The Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) issued a call for projects under a programme entitled 'Supporting Digital Preservation and Asset Management in Institutions', and a bid to explore the preservation of hybrid paper and digital personal archives led by the University of Oxford in partnership with the University of Mancheste...

The personal curation of digital objects

“…personal archives with digital and physical components)" (Paradigm, 2008, p. 16) from a representative sample of United Kingdom politicians (Thomas and Martin, 2006;Paradigm, 2008). This was undertaken to explore the issues involved in preserving digital private papers.…”

Highlighting the archives perspective in the personal digital archiving discussion

“…This is evident in the corpus of archival documents pertaining to personal archiving: most relevant documents included some piece related to appraisal (Anthony, 2003;Cox, 1996;Craig, 2001;Herrada, 2003;Hobbs, 2001;Hyry et al, 2002;Laver, 2003;McKemmish, 1996;Momryk, 2001;Southcott et al, 1996;Thomas and Martin, 2006;Williams et al, 2008). Most institutional archives address appraisal in some way in their collecting policies.…”

“…In addition, the PARADIGM project explored curatorial duties associated with the personal digital belongings of individuals, using a test bed of British politicians (Thomas and Martin, 2006). Guided by the Open Archival Information System (OAIS), the PARADIGM team implemented Cunningham's proposed strategy: they developed relationships with the offices of current British politicians and offered advice about and encouraged deposit of personal digital collections.…”

“…Working with the politicians raised many of the curatorial challenges found by Marshall et al (2006), demonstrated by the politicians' concerns about security. Although Thomas and Martin (2006) concluded by providing more questions than solutions, the PARADIGM project is an example of implementing theories into practice. While most discussion of personal digital archiving exists in the conceptual and theoretical phases, implementation projects are part of the next logical step to fully addressing the challenges of personal digital archiving.…”

“…This is slowly changing as archivists comprehend the difficulties associated with preserving online traces of individuals. Thomas and Martin (2006, p. 47) of the PARADIGM project propose that regional and national “centres of expertise” would be a more cost effective solution than many local stores of information. The global access provided by the internet creates questions about the role that the location of the archive plays.…”