KeepIt course 1: Using the Data Asset Framework

KeepIt course module 1, Southampton, 19 January 2010
Tools this module: DAF, AIDA
Tags Find out more about: this module KeepIt course 1, the full KeepIt course
Presentations and tutorial exercises course 1 (source files)

How much do we know about the range of digital content produced in an institution? How much of that content could be managed and in scope of the IR?

It is likely we are facing a digital data explosion in institutions, although this may not yet be evident from many IRs today. If we are considering repository preservation we are already looking a few years ahead, but it’s likely we are thinking more of the content today than of the repository as it will be then. At that point we will be asking the same preservation questions of new content, and it would be as well that we can apply the same answers then too, but if the range and type of repository content has changed from our current assumptions then those answers may no longer apply. That’s why scoping the repository now and for the future is as important for preservation as preserving the content itself.

Repositories ought to be a dynamic reflection of the institutions they serve. What will your repository look like in five years, say? We will try and answer this question using the Data Asset Framework (DAF) from the University of Glasgow and the Digital Curation Centre.

Using DAF as a data scoping tool for institutional repositories, Sarah Jones

Sarah outlines the background and motivations for the development of the DAF, and introduces its fundamental methodology.

[slideshare id=2996958&doc=dafkeepit190110-100126111344-phpapp02]

The DAF at Southampton, by Harry Gibbs

The DAF is probably one of the most evaluated tools to have been produced by a JISC project. A series of pilot studies, listed in Sarah’s opening presentation, has been produced on application of the DAF in a range of institutional contexts. In one of those reports, Harry Gibbs described how the DAF was used to scope data types in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Southampton. Recalled in this presentation, the candid and numerous lessons learned and outcomes reveal how to get the most out of the DAF methodology.

[slideshare id=2997360&doc=dafpresentationjan10keepit-100126120238-phpapp02]

Based on the institutional pilot studies the DAF team have produced an extremely useful implementation guide that distills all the findings and presents a range of practical examples from which to select and follow.

Group exercise: scoping data and curation requirements

With copies of the implementation guide to hand, course participants were split into groups of 3-4 to work for 45 mins on an exercise set around their chosen repository. The task was to identify the data types and scope curation requirements for the repository, with a view to answering a series of set questions (slide 3 below) and reporting back to the full group with some answers.

[slideshare id=2997439&doc=dafexercisekeepit190110-100126121412-phpapp01]

DAF will help you to discover hidden digital content produced in your institution that might be served by your repository, but how committed is your institution towards supporting a growing repository? We try AIDA, a tool to help you find out.

Tools this module: DAF, AIDA