Archival Workshop on Ingest, Identification, and Certification Standards (AWIICS)

(A part of the ISO Archiving Workshop Series)
 
 
  

      

Call for Participation


Archival Workshop on Ingest, Identification, and Certification Standards
(AWIICS)
DATE: October 13-15, 1999

HOST: The National Archives and Records Administration
Archives II
8601 Adelphi Road
College Park, MD 20740-6001

 

 

The explosive growth of digital information and the need to successfully archive these data are matters which are receiving a great deal of attention from many organizations. The majority of this effort has been directed toward accessing and retrieving archived data. However, successful and efficient retrieval of data from an archive requires that the data was successfully and efficiently ingested and identified by an archive. It also requires that the archive follow appropriate policies and procedures to ensure the information is understandable and usable into the indefinite future. Appropriate standards can assist in meeting these objectives.

These issues, and others, have been addressed at the conceptual level in a reference model developed by a US ISO archiving group under ISO TC20/ SC13/ and the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems (CCSDS). This model, called the Reference Model for Open Archival Information Systems (OAIS), has been released for formal ISO and CCSDS review. An electronic version of the OAIS Reference Model can be found at:

http://ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/nost/isoas/ref_model.html
This is an opportune time to see what additional standardization efforts may be of interest and to plan for their initiation.

The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and ISO TC20/ SC13/ are hosting an Archival Workshop on Ingest, Identification and Certification on 13 and 14 October 1999 at the NARA facilities in College Park, MD.

Based on input from the Data Archive Directions (DADs) Workshop and further market interest surveys, the Workshop organizers are suggesting three primary topic areas for workshop focus and possible standardization efforts:

  • Ingest methodology and standardization: A methodology for the interaction between an archive and its producers could greatly facilitate the preparation and ingest of digital material, simultaneously increasing quality and reducing costs. This might cover preparation of the data and supporting material, the archives' ingest of the data and supporting material, and the interactions between the providers and the archives about the data preparation and submission.
  • Identification of data: Permanent, unique, identifiers for digital objects retrievable from archives could significantly improve all aspects of archive ingest and the use of digital information by end users. There are several ongoing efforts that need to be investigated in this context.
  • Certification of archives: A method by which an Archive's customers could gain confidence in the authenticity, quality, and usefulness of digitally archived materials would help ensure management that an archive was fulfilling its role of long term preservation. This may look like a framework that could be tailored for specific domains or archives as appropriate.

We envision the workshop as consisting of a review of papers submitted on needs or approaches in each of the identified areas. We will attempt to define and constrain the scope based on those who are willing to participate in developing one or more standards in these areas. We will also attempt to identify the forum in which the work is most likely to succeed.

The workshop will consist of:

  • 1/2 day opening plenary where selected position papers on requirements will be discussed
  • One day splinter groups in each of the areas discussed above to determine requirements, sponsoership and potential base documents for formal standardization in these areas. The goal of this workshop is to initiate development of standards in one or more of these area through existing national or international standards bodies. Participants are encouraged to submit all relevant discipline or corporate standards in these areas for review during the splinter groups
  • 1/2 day closing plenary to present splionter group results and develop plans anbd schedules for continued standarization efforts.
On Friday October 15, the organizing committee will meet to develop appropriate standardization proposals and a draft workshop report. Any workshop attendees who wishes to participate in this effort are welcome to attend.

There will be no registration fee and participants will be on their own for hotel and transportation arrangements. A registration form for the workshop, an "intent to participate in a standardization effort" form, and additional descriptive material can be found at http://ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/nost/isoas/awiics/. Registration closes on 17 September 1999 and papers are due by 27 September 1999. Registrants will be informed of their acceptance within 2 business days after their registration. Late registrations may be accepted based on resource availability.

[Curator's Note: Late registrations will be accepted until at least 6 October or until space is no longer available.]

Please register from this WWW site no later than 17 September 1999. Alternatively, you mail e-mail the same information to archive-standards@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov

Wider Views

Overview of the Archival Workshop
Overview of US Effort
Overview of International Effort

URL: http://ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/nost/isoas/awiics/call.html

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Author: Archival Workshop Program Committee (archive_standards@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov) +1.301.286.3575
Curator: John Garrett (John.Garrett@gsfc.nasa.gov) +1.301.286.3575
Responsible Official: Code 633.2 / Don Sawyer (Donald.Sawyer@gsfc.nasa.gov) +1.301.286.2748
Last Revised: 1 September 1999, John Garrett [20 September, 1999]