What are the best practices for ensuring the authenticity and integrity of digital objects?

1 What is digital curation?

Digital curation is the process of selecting, acquiring, organizing, describing, preserving, and providing access to digital objects. It involves applying standards, policies, and procedures to ensure the quality, usability, and longevity of digital objects. Digital curation also requires monitoring and evaluating the performance and impact of digital objects, and updating them as needed.

2 What is the digital curation lifecycle model?

The digital curation lifecycle model is a framework that illustrates the stages and activities involved in digital curation. It was developed by the Digital Curation Centre (DCC), a UK-based organization that supports research data management. The model consists of six main stages: conceptualize, create or receive, appraise and select, ingest, preservation action, store, access, use and reuse, transform, and dispose. Each stage has a set of actions and responsibilities that can be customized according to the context and needs of the library and its users.

4 How to ensure the integrity of digital objects?

Integrity refers to the quality of being complete, accurate, and consistent. To ensure the integrity of digital objects, libraries need to monitor and verify their condition, functionality, and accessibility over time. This can include checking for errors, viruses, or degradation, and performing regular backups, migrations, or conversions to prevent data loss or obsolescence. Libraries also need to follow standards and best practices for file naming, formatting, and storage, and to document any changes or transformations made to digital objects.

5 How to implement the best practices for digital curation?

Implementing the best practices for digital curation requires planning, collaboration, and evaluation. Libraries need to develop and follow a digital curation policy that defines the goals, roles, and responsibilities of digital curation, as well as the criteria, methods, and tools for selecting, acquiring, organizing, describing, preserving, and providing access to digital objects. Libraries also need to collaborate with other stakeholders, such as creators, users, funders, and partners, to ensure the alignment and interoperability of digital curation activities and outputs. Libraries also need to evaluate and improve their digital curation processes and outcomes, using indicators, feedback, and lessons learned.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?