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Helen Hockx-Yu
Programme Manager
JISC

-----Original Message-----
From: Joy Davidson [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 05 March 2007 16:14
Subject: DCC and DPE announce the release of the Digital Repository Audit
Tooklit (DRAMBORA) 


Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment? (?DRAMBORA?)
?toolkit released and supporting tutorials announced

The DRAMBORA Toolkit
The Digital Curation Centre? (?DCC?) ?and DigitalPreservationEurope? 
(?DPE?) ?are delighted to announce the release of the Digital Repository
Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment? (?DRAMBORA?) ?toolkit and supporting
tutorials.? ?This toolkit facilitates internal audit by providing repository
administrators with a means to assess their capabilities,? ?identify their
weaknesses,? ?and recognise their strengths.? ?It complements other emerging
work on attributes and criteria for Trustworthy Digital Repositories.?
?DRAMBORA can be utilised by a broad range of digital repositories,?
?including the majority of current instances whose mandates do not yet
include responsibility for long-term digital preservation.?

The development of this toolkit follows a concentrated period of repository
pilot audits undertaken by the DCC,? ?conducted at a diverse range of
organisations including national libraries,? ?scientific data centres and
cultural and heritage data archives.? ?We recognise that digital
repositories are still in their infancy and,? ?accordingly,? 
?this model will respond to meet the changing needs caused by the rapidly
developing landscape.? ?

This self-assessment toolkit was developed collaboratively by the DCC? 
(?funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee and the Core eScience
Programme run by EPSRC on behalf of all the Research Councils in the? ?UK?)
?and DPE? (?co-funded by the European Commission?)?.? 
?These two initiatives will continue to work together to test and refine the
toolkit,? ?to manage the online tool,? ?which is available at? 
?http://www.repositoryaudit.eu,? ?and to foster its widest possible take-up
within the? ?United Kingdom,? ?Europe and broader international contexts.?

Chris Rusbridge,? ?Director of the DCC,? ?said? '?Digital Curation embraces
the whole life cycle of scientific data,? ?and uses databases and
repositories with widely different scales and mandates.? ?This approach
could have benefits across the whole spectrum.? ?I welcome this toolkit,?
?emerging from a combination of theoretical and practical underpinning,?
?involving collaborations between different parts of the DCC and many
international bodies and individuals,? ?which has such strong potential for
improving the management of scientific data.?'

Seamus Ross,? ?in his capacity as Director of DigitalPreservationEurope,?
?noted that,? '?Digital repositories provide a fundamental mechanism for
contemporary society to communicate our cultural and scientific heritage
with the future.? ?If they are to do this well then they must closely
monitor what they do and how they do it.? ?This toolkit is designed to help
them to meet these needs.?'

While formal certification is still some time away,? ?the DCC and DPE are
confident that there are many benefits to be gained by undertaking the
process of self-auditing.? ?To support the take-up of the DRAMBORA
self-assessment toolkit in the? ?UK,? ?Europe,? ?and beyond the DCC in
cooperation with DPE are pleased to announce three tutorials to introduce
the DRAMBORA toolkit.?


Supporting Tutorials?:
DCC Tutorial:? ?Building Trust in Digital Repositories? ?-? ?Using the
DRAMBORA Toolkit?
?London,? ?UK?
?26? ?April? ?2007? (?from? ?11:00-16:00?)
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/events/drambora-london-2007/
?
?DPE Tutorial:? ?Building Trust in Digital Repositories? ?-? ?Using the
DRAMBORA Toolkit?
?National Archives of the Netherlands
The Hague,? ?The Netherlands?
?3? ?May? ?2007? (?from? ?11:00-16:00?)
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/events/drambora-hague-2007/
?
?DCC at IS&T Archiving Conference:? ?Building Trust in Digital Repositories?
?-?
?Using the DRAMBORA Toolkit?
?IS&T Archiving Conference?
?Virginia,? ?USA?
?21? ?May? ?2007? (?from? ?08:00-12:00?)
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/events/IS&T-2007
<http://www.dcc.ac.uk/events/IS&T-2007>
http://www.imaging.org/conferences/archiving2007/tutorials.cfm

?These practical tutorials open with a contextual overview of the need for
an evidence-based audit of digital repositories and describe the results of
the DCC pilot audits to date as well as lessons.? ?The tutorials will then
move on to demonstrate how institutions can make use of the DRAMBORA toolkit
to design,? ?develop,? ?evaluate,? ?and/or refine new or existing trusted
digital repository systems and workflows.? ?This will involve a walkthrough
of the audit process with practical examples based on the pilot audits.?

Participants will be encouraged to draw upon and share their own experiences
during this discussion.? ?Participants will receive a hard copy of the
DRAMBORA toolkit and related documentation to take away with them so they
can begin to assess their own repositories and workflows or start developing
a repository system.?

?Benefits of Participation?:
?This course will enable the attendee to
** Comprehend the concepts of trust with regards to digital repositories?
** Recognize the need for evidence-based evaluation for building trust in
digital repositories?
** Understand how the DRAMBORA toolkit can be used to help design and
develop systems and workflows that can help build trusted digital
repositories?
** Obtain skills needed to undertake a thorough assessment of digital
repositories using the DRAMBORA toolkit?
** Appreciate the range of staff and skill-sets required to implement and
sustain a trusted digital repository?
** Contribute to the refining of the audit toolkit?

?Intended Audience:?
?This tutorial will be of interest to anyone involved in funding,? 
?supporting,? ?developing,? ?implementing,? ?managing,? ?and/or using
digital repositories.?

?For more information on the toolkit and the tutorials,? ?please see:?
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/
http://www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu
http://www.repositoryaudit.eu

?Best regards,?

?Chris Rusbridge
Director? ?Digital Curation Centre
http://www.dcc.ac.uk
?&
Professor Seamus Ross
Director HATII at? ?University of? ?Glasgow, Principal Director
DigitalPreservationEurope? (?DPE?)?, ?& ?Associate Director Digital Curation
Centre? (?DCC?) http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk
<http://www.hatii.arts.gla.ac.uk/>
http://www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu
<http://www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu/>
http://www.dcc.ac.uk

****************************************************************
Notes for Editors:
The JISC-funded? ?Digital Curation Centre? (?DCC?) ?provides a focus on
research into digital curation expertise and best practice for the storage,?
?management and preservation of digital information to enable its use and
re-use over time.? ?The project represents a collaboration between the?
?University of? ?Edinburgh,? ?the? ?University of? ?Glasgow through HATII,?
?UKOLN at the? ?University of? ?Bath,? ?and the Council of the Central
Laboratory of the Research Councils? (?CCLRC?)?.? ?The DCC relies heavily on
active participation and feedback from all stakeholder communities.? ?The
DCC is not itself a data repository.? 
?Rather,? ?based on insight from a vibrant research programme that addresses
wider issues of data curation and long-term preservation,? ?it has developed
and offers programmes of outreach and practical services to assist those who
face digital curation challenges.? ?It also seeks to complement and
contribute towards the efforts of related organisations,? 
?rather than duplicate services.? ?For more information see:? 
?http://www.dcc.ac.uk

DigitalPreservationEurope? (?DPE?) ?is a three-year project? 
(?2006-2009?)?,? ?co-funded by the European Commission? 
(?IST-2006-034762?)?,? ?and comprising nine partner organisations from eight
European countries.? ?It fosters collaboration and synergies between
existing national initiatives across the European Research Area to address
the need to improve coordination,? ?cooperation and consistency in current
activities to secure effective preservation and curation of digital
materials.? ?For more information see:? 
?http://www.digitalpreservationeurope.eu


Instructors:? ?
Andrew McHugh,? ?advisory services manager for the DCC since? ?2004,? 
?leads a world-class team of digital curation practitioners in offering
leading-edge expertise and insight in a range of issues.? ?His most recent
work at the DCC has involved leading its work in trusted repository Audit
and Certification.? ?McHugh also lectures on multimedia systems and design
on the MSc in Information Technology run by the Computing Science Department
at? ?Glasgow.?

?Seamus Ross,? ?professor of Humanities Informatics and Digital Curation and
director of Humanities Computing and Information Management at the? 
?University of? ?Glasgow,? ?runs HATII? (?Humanities Advanced Technology and
Information Institute,? ?of which he is the founding director.? ?He is an
associate director of the DCC,? ?a co-principal investigator in the DELOS
Digital Libraries Network of Excellence,? ?and principal director of
DigitalPreservationEurope? (?DPE?)?.?

?Raivo Ruusalepp is currently involved in the audit and certification of
digital repositories work of the EU DigitalPreservationEurope project.? 
?He is employed at the National Archives of Netherlands and the Estonian
Business Archives.? ?Ruusalepp has an MA in computing applications for
history from? ?University of? ?London and has worked with digital archives
and electronic records management for more than ten years.? ?


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