Digital Preservation Strategy

According to the Archives Act, institutions like Concordia University, have to preserve their records: Every public body shall establish and keep up to date a retention schedule determining the periods of use and medium of retention of its active and semi-active documents and indicating which inactive documents are to be preserved permanently, and which are to be disposed of. (RSQ c. A-21.1, s. 7)

Concordia University recognizes the importance of records, analog or digital, and understands the necessity to preserve them according to administrative, legal and historical needs. Concordia also recognizes that donors gifting their documents as private donations come to rely on the University’s commitment to best practices, including digital preservation.

RMA currently has three key policies in place that outline the responsibilities and mandate of the department:

• Policy on the Acquisition of Archives (SG-8)
• Policy on Records Management and Archives (SG-10)
• Policy on Email Management (SG-11)

RMA is responsible for the collection, long-term preservation, as well as, granting access to records holding historic and/or legal value. Furthermore, this responsibility applies to individuals and/or groups that have made private donations to Concordia’s RMA.

Digital preservation encompasses the procedures, polices and technical processes necessary to ensure long-term accessibility to authentic digital records as well as surrogates produced to preserve analog records.

The Society of American Archivists defines a Digital Record [Electronic Record] as, “Data or information that has been captured and fixed for storage and manipulation in an automated system and that requires the use of the system to render it intelligible by a person.” In the context of RMA, this will also include the preservation and accessibility of related metadata.

This Strategy looks to establish a framework for activities that RMA will undertake in the next years relating to digital preservation, including in particular:

• Acquisition and implementation of a digital preservation system
• Establishment of a digital repository acting as a central hub for digital records and related metadata
• Realization and expansion of a digital preservation lab
• Creation of digital preservation policies, procedures and workflows

There are many challenges facing archivists responsible for the acquisition, arrangement, and accessibility of digital records, including in particular:

• Managing the rate of digital records proliferation
• File format obsolescence
• Physical degradation and damage to legacy hardware and physical storage media
• Securing large scale preservation storage and backup

Due to these primary challenges, the long-term accessibility of digital records is threatened.

RMA adheres to the following digital preservation principles:

• Long-term preservation and access to born-digital records and surrogates
• Commitment to professional standards and best practices
• Ongoing monitoring of technology
• Acquisition not being impaired by technology
• Original kept and not being affected by preservation actions
• Integrity being retained through preservation actions
• Authenticity being assured through preservation actions
• Auditability of documented and transparent preservation actions

• Secretary-General

The Secretary-General owns the program and delegates its administration to the Director, RMA.

• University Archivist

The Director, RMA oversees the program and allocates suitable resources for its sustainability.

• Lead, Historical Archives

The Lead, Historical Archives supervises and works closely with the digital archivist in all aspects of the program and insures that all steps are done according to best practices and in due time.

• Digital Archivist

The Digital Archivist is responsible for overseeing the planning, implementation, and management of the digital archives program and digital preservation lab.

RMA will ensure that enough resources are allocated to pursue the digital archives program in the future by:

• Maintaining and training staff with appropriate skills
• Monitoring technology and professional standards evolution
• Auditing practices and measuring success