Contents:
- Introduction
- Properties, Values, Characteristics and Requirements
- Some Observations
- Conceptual Details
- Conclusions
This paper, written by two authors from the British Library, analyzes how digital preservation services interact with preservation metadata and then presents a conceptual model for a preservation metadata dictionary enabling such interaction. It begins by defining a vocabulary to frame both digital object characteristics as well as preservation service requirements. Then, after analyzing the relationship between properties and requirements, it presents the data model. It has been devised within the context of the Planets project. Appeared in: International Journal of Digital Curation, Issue 1, Volume 6, 2011.
This article presents an interesting metadata model that is designed to enable dynamic preservation processes, “not one that is meant solely to allow the static recording of characteristics and events”. Written in an academic style, it is not always easily readable and unfortunately does not offer concrete examples which would make the model easier to understand for non specialists. However, it is particularly good in making clear that the development of preservation metadata cannot be seen as an exercise independent of defining preservation service requirements and that the two together are required to carry out automated digital preservation.