DCC/DPE Forum: Developing an International Framework for Audit and Certification

Evidence-based evaluation has been used successfully for many years to establish trust in traditional repositories such as museums and archives. It is, however, a mistake to assume that the trust earned by a repository that successfully manages and preserves analogue material can be transferred to their digital holdings. Such cavalier assumptions pose a substantial threat to the long-term accessibility and reusability of our collective memory and scholarship. Recent international activity has championed the need for evidence-based evaluation of digital repositories. However, the work to date has focussed largely on the development of a criteria checklist and on the audit itself. Considerably less thought has been committed to the shape of the overall certification framework that by necessity must surround it. This seminar brought together repository practitioners, professional auditors, representatives from international funding bodies, and members of the research community to determine the feasibility of digital repository certification on an international scale.