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-----Original Message-----
From: JISC cluster group on preservation for digital repositories
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Joy Davidson
Sent: 30 January 2007 14:48
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: First International Workshop on Database Preservation (P resDB'07)
First International Workshop on Database Preservation (PresDB'07)
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23 March DCC, Edinburgh, UK
http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/hmueller/presdb07/
Most of scientific research is now based on digital data resources, and
databases are playing an increasingly important role. Much of the data is
either impossible (e.g.
climate and
demographic data) to reproduce or can only be recovered at enormous costs
(e.g. data from high energy physics experiments or space flight missions).
Nearly every reference manual, dictionary and gazetteer benefits from some
form of database management support, and there has been an explosion in the
number of curated databases in biology. These databases represent a huge
investment of human effort. The need for preservation is self-evident.
While considerable thought has been given in the past to the preservation of
fixed "digital objects", the preservation of databases, which have an
internal structure and which may change over time, poses new challenges.
Typically databases are centrally managed, and their survival depends on the
viability of commercial organisations or the continued public funding of
data centres. Libraries, the traditional curators of scientific and
scholarly reference material, have largely abrogated their archival
responsibility to databases.
Database preservation raises new technical, economic and legal issues. For
example:
-- What are the salient features of a database that should be preserved?
-- What are the different stages in the database preservation's life cycle?
-- How do we keep archived databases readable and usable in the long term
(at acceptable cost)?
-- How do we separate the data from a specific database management
environment?
-- How can we preserve the original data semantics and structure?
-- How can we preserve data while it continues to evolve?
-- How can we have efficient preservation frameworks, while retaining the
ability to query
different database versions?
-- How can multi-user online access be provided to hundreds of archived
databases containing
terabytes of data?
-- Can we move from a centralised model to a distributed, redundant model
of database preservation?
-- What documentation is preserved together with a database, and in what
format?
-- What are the legal encumbrances on database preservation?
-- What can be learned from traditional archival appraisal for the
selection of databases for
preservation?
-- To what extent can the preservation strategies, and procedural policies
developed by archivists
be adapted for databases?
The workshop aims to bring together an interdisciplinary group of
researchers and practitioners who will address archival issues associated
with databases. All participants ' presentations will be hosted by the
workshop site and a short report with the final conclusions of the workshop
discussions will be published.
Organization
============
PresDB is an informal workshop organized by a small executive committee. The
one-day program of the workshop will consist of oral presentations and
brainstorming sessions. Attendance will be mainly by invitation from the
executive committee. To stimulate interaction and discussion, participants
are also invited to submit short position papers until
02/03/2007 (submissions will be send via e-mail to Vassilis Christophides
[log in to unmask]).
Timing and Venue
================
The workshop will be take place the 23 of March at the UK Digital Curation
Centre and the Database Group in the School of Informatics, University of
Edinburgh.
Executive Committee
===================
Peter Buneman, University of Edinburgh, UK Vassilis Christophides,
University of Crete and FORTH-ICS, Greece (Chair) Bertram Ludaescher
University of California, Davis, USA Chris Rusbridge, Digital Curation
Center (DCC), UK Wang-Chiew Tan, University of California, Santa Cruz, USA
Ken Thibodeau National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), USA
*********************************************************
Joy Davidson
DCC Training Coordinator and ERPANET British Editor Humanities Advanced
Technology and Information Institute (HATII) George Service House, 11
University Gardens, University of Glasgow Glasgow G12 8QJ Scotland
Tel: +44(0)141 330 8592
Fax: +44(0)141 330 3788
http://www.dcc.ac.uk
http://www.erpanet.org
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