Digital Curation and Preservation: Defining the Research Agenda for the Next Decade

In conjunction with the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC), and the British Library (BL), we delivered a two-day workshop at Scarman House, University of Warwick, to help shape the international digital curation and preservation research agenda for the next ten years.

Defining the Research Agenda for the Next Decade

Over recent years it has become clear that accessing and preserving digital data is increasingly important across a wide range of scientific, artistic and cultural activities. There has been a growing recognition of the need to address the fragility and accessibility of the digital information collected in all aspects of our lives. Access to digital information lies at the heart of the scientific and technical innovation vital for modern economies. Supporting Society's growing dependence on digital information for its smooth operation provides a real urgency for this task and a wide range of initiatives are already underway at both the national and international level to tackle the many aspects of the end-to-end digital preservation "lifecycle".

Within the UK "curation and preservation" of digital information has been identified by the Office of Science and Technology (OST) working group on e-Infrastructure as one of six key components the future national e-Infrastructure. The OST working group is charged with mapping out relevant developments, gaps and challenges in digital curation and preservation over the next 10 years. Therefore, it was timely to bring together national and international experts across the full spectrum of the digital lifecycle to assist this process by mapping out the current state of play and future agenda and provide valuable input to the working group. A particular focus of this workshop was the research agenda for digital preservation and curation; what are the major challenges and gaps in current developments, and what needs to be done to tackle them. Read more about defining the research agenda for the next decade [PDF, 89KB]

Workshop Documents

Benefits of Attendance

This event helped shape the international digital curation and preservation research agenda. Although this event took place in the UK, it not only focused on activity in the UK; international integration is essential and the workshop included key international experts. The outputs from the workshop have been made available to the wider community and policy bodies, such as the e-Infrastructures Reflection Group [external]) and the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures [external]) which, in parallel to the OST working group, are charged with mapping out the requirements for an integrated infrastructure across Europe. By taking part, participants had the opportunity to help define and prioritise key issues for international development and collaboration.

Format

The workshop was delivered over three parallel breakout sessions: Drivers and Barriers; Data Life Cycle Management; and Distributed Architectures. Each session was chaired by a leading expert and began by placing the topic into the context of digital curation and providing references to current international efforts in the area. Following this introduction, each session highlighted specific tools, practical approaches and emerging standards in the form of presentations. Each session then concluded with an open question period which was moderated by the session chair.

• Welcome — Malcolm Read, JISC
• Opening Keynote Address (Day One) [PPT, 2.8MB] — John Wood, CEO CCLRC
• Opening Keynote Address (Day Two) [PPT, 58KB] — Peter Tindemans, Council for the European Spallation Source Project (see also this additional paper [PDF, 120KB]).

Click on a session to view a summary and download the presentations.

Steering Committee

• Juan Bicarregui, CCLRC
• Richard Boulderstone, The British Library
• Charlotte Capener, BBSRC
• David Corney, CCLRC
• Neil Geddes, CCRLC
• Keith Jeffery, CCLRC
• Allan Sudlow, MRC
• Heather Weaver, CCLRC
• Astrid Wissenburg, ESRC

Venue

Find out how to get to Scarman House, University of Warwick [external].