Year One: Develop Preservation Framework
- Profile Current and Future Media Art Researchers and Their Needs
- Collection Analysis and Selection of Classes
- Identify Significant Properties and Build Out Digital Object Model / Metadata Profile
- Build SIP Requirements Based on Findings: SIP Definition and Creation for Classes of Works
Year Two: Implementation into Repository Environment
- Automated Processing and Ingest of SIPs into CUL Archival Repository
- Test Pull of Dissemination Information Packages (DIPs)
- Testing Against Full Range of Assets within Selected Classes
- Definition and Creation of Access Versions
- White Paper Composition
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● A full report of this process, including financial and time expenses, so that other institutions might gauge the feasibility of a comparable project with their own complex media collections.
Year One: Develop the Preservation Framework
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1) Profile Current and Future Media Art Researchers and Their Needs
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Our first goal is to determine use scenarios for different kinds of media art researchers. By building out use-case scenarios, we will develop a better sense of various users' requirements for access to interactive digital assets.
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- User profiles with associated requirements for long-term access of new media art.
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2) Collection Analysis and Selection of Classes
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To develop our metadata and SIP requirements and subsequent automated ingest of complex media, we need better technical data about the contents of the collection itself. This need demands a better way of evaluating the nature and risk of the various pieces within the collection. Comparable assessments have been undertaken with collections of complex digital objects, such as the Preserving Virtual Worlds project\[[1]\|#_ftn1\]; however, no test bed for forensic assessment has been as broad, rich, complex, or wide-ranging as the interactive holdings of the Goldsen Archive. |
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From this assessment, we propose to select two to three distinct, but related, "classes" of material to test; for instance, a "class" might consist of a group of works created with the same software; related "classes" might represent a single software environment that functioned in CD-ROM and migrated to the web. We will, however, let our findings and the advice of our consultants guide our selection in this project phase. In making this selection, we will primarily look for categories that have: large impact---that is, exhibit information structures with potentially broad prevalence, even outside the Goldsen collections; good chance of success, and seem particularly viable for migration and potential future emulation; and scholarly value, specifically, we will seek categories that represent especially culturally significant artworks.
Activities
- Develop framework and methodology for analysis of complex objects and identification of classes of works that share characteristics and dependencies;
- Analyze CD-ROM and Internet Art to determine classes and groupings based on shared characteristics and dependencies;
- Identify/develop appropriate data model for documentation of classes and representation information, beginning by reviewing existing data models;
- Working with advisory board, select subset of classes of material to test, based on broad impact, feasibility, and scholarly value;
- After selection by Cornell and the Advisory Board of the two or three priority classes, document representation information for each class using the data model; and
- Revision of data model and classes as necessary based on findings from step 5.
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- Framework and methodology for analysis and classification;
- XML document for collection's item-level metadata as captured in broad-stroke forensic analysis;
- Data model for classes and representation information with accompanying documentation; and
- Population of the data model for each class as parsed from digital forensic analysis.
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3) Identify Significant Properties and Build Out Digital Object Model/Metadata Profile
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We will next hone in on specific preservation requirements for works within the selected classes of material. Whereas we initially focused on a broad-stroke analysis at the collection level to determine different classes of material, this next phase will detail the necessary technical components needed to preserve and render the artworks into the future for items within those classes. We envision this as a multi-step process.
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- Framework and methodology for analysis and identification of significant properties;
- Revised data model, including significant properties;
- Continued population of the data model for selected works;
- Publishable METS profile and/or RDF data model and ontological work.
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4) Build SIP Requirements Based on Findings: SIP Definition and Creation for Classes of Works
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This process will involve developing packages for new media objects that contain the complex elements and metadata required to preserve them. In consideration of the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) data model, the developed SIP structure will conform to international standards and should be generalizable for other collections of new media art and complex media types.
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- SIP specification for each selected class;
- SIP creation protocol document for each selected class; and
- Sample valid SIPs.
Year Two: Implement into Repository Environment and Publish Results
With a SIP structure in place for the articulation and documentation of key significant elements needed for the preservation of a complex digital object, we will begin the process of pushing assets to the CUL Archival Repository. This will be an iterative process, whereby we uncover potential problems within the preservation framework and revise accordingly. We have the following goals established for this phase of development:
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1) Automated Processing and Ingest of SIPs into CUL Archival Repository
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With our data model established at the class level, we will need to build out the associated workflow to package and ingest the SIPs into the digital archival repository in an efficient manner. To this end, we will investigate automation strategies such as BagIt and Dflat to streamline the process. Given the complexity of the material in terms of file structure, file type, and description, we anticipate that an individual artwork will comprise a SIP, and we will build out our workflow accordingly.
Once we have an established ingest methodology and automated the creation of SIPs, we will validate them and ensure data integrity through the use of checksums. Although much of this research will be contingent on our specific repository environment, we believe that it will be generalizable enough to provide a starting point for other institutions to do similar work. All work will be documented in sufficient detail to serve as a project deliverable.
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2) Test Pull of Dissemination Information Packages (DIPs)
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Ultimate success of this project relies on the ability of others outside of Cornell's current institutional infrastructure to take a DIP and use its contents. To this end, and working closely with our advisory members, we will select a partner institution knowledgeable about new media artwork and preservation infrastructure to take one of the CUL packages and validate and understand its contents.
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3) Test against Full Range of Assets within Selected Classes
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Testing the developed model is an integral part of any R & D effort. Following the model development, it will be tested comprehensively for the two or three defined classes. Ideally, comprehensively ingesting the classes to CUL's digital archival repository will result in the actual preservation of the assets within the collection.
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4) Definition and Creation of Access Versions
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In instances when rendering the original is too onerous a task or technically unfeasible, it helps to define an acceptable access copy for a given class. These may include screen grabs, screen recordings, video recordings, images, and thorough documentation of the work. When an access copy is generated, it remains to be determined whether it is incorporated into the SIP. Our efforts will be informed by the user profiles generated in the first year, in collaboration with the Advisory Board.
With an established methodology, we will create access versions for pieces in the priority classes as an initial test, which will inform the ultimate access strategy for the entire Goldsen Collection.
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5) White Paper Composition
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One primary deliverable will be a white paper that explains our project and its associated outcomes. All technical strategies and specifications will be articulated, as well as the factors that informed our decision-making process. We will also address a range of practical issues, including costs associated with the study, resources required to move the project into a program, lessons learned, and scholarly uses of new media art to enable us to estimate future use by scholars and students