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From: William Kilbride <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 5:55 AM
Subject: Preserving Email, a new report from the DPC
To: [log in to unmask]
*Email tomorrow … and next year … and forever*
*Preserving Email, a new report from the DPC gives practical advice on how
to ensure email remains accessible*****
Email is a defining feature of our age and a critical element in all manner
of transactions. Industry and commerce depend upon email; families and
friendships are sustained by it; government and economies rely upon it;
communities are created and strengthened by it. Voluminous, pervasive and
proliferating, email fills our days like no other technology. Complex,
intangible and essential, email manifests important personal and
professional exchanges. The jewels are sometimes hidden in massive volumes
of ephemera, and even greater volumes of trash. But it is hard to remember
how we functioned before the widespread adoption of email in public and
private life. ****
Institutions, organizations and individuals have a considerable investment
in - and legal requirements to safeguard - large collections of email. IT
managers and archivists have long recognised that email requires careful
management if it is to be available in the long term but practical advice
about how to do this is surprisingly sparse. So a new ‘Technology Watch
Report’ from the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) will be of wide
interest.****
‘The first email was probably sent by researcher at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology in 1965’, explained Chris Prom of the University of
Illinois, the report’s author. ‘It has long since gone missing, deemed too
trivial to be worth preserving.’****
‘Since then email has become a valuable documentary form because people
typically use it to write things that were not intended for wide revelation
at the time. So it can contain material which researchers – and high court
judges – find incredibly useful.’****
‘Users normally shoulder the ultimate responsibility for managing and
preserving their own email. This exposes important records to needless
risks and is counterproductive in many cases. But it doesn’t have to be
like this. Individuals and organizations can lay the foundation for long
term access so long as they understand the technical standards that
underlie email systems. Based on this understanding, they can implement
sensible preservation strategies.’ ****
‘The *Preserving Email* report provides a comprehensive advanced
introduction to the topic for anyone who has to manage a large email
archive in the long term: and in the long term that will be most of us.’****
Gareth Knight of King’s College London welcomed the report. ‘*Preserving
Email* provides an excellent overview of the topic, drawing together
observations made in a number of research projects to provide a succinct
overview of the legal, technical, and cultural issues that must be
addressed to ensure that these digital assets can be curated and preserved
in the long-term. Its conclusion, providing a set of pragmatic,
easy-to-understand recommendations that individuals and institutions may
apply to better manage their email archive, highlights the complexity of
email preservation. It also sends a clear message that it is something
that everyone can perform.’****
The British Library is among the agencies currently working on new
strategies to preserve email. Maureen Pennock of the British Library
welcomed in particular the two short case studies which are included in the
report. ‘The report includes case studies from the Bodleian Library and the
Medical Research Council which are really useful in making sense of the
practical problems which we face, and how to resolve them in practice not
just theory. They show what can be achieved and underline just how useful
the core email standards are.’****
Neil Beagrie of Charles Beagrie Ltd, managing editor and principal
investigator of the Technology Watch Series highlighted the plans for more
reports in the series in the near future. ‘Preserving Email is the first
of five planned publications from leading experts in the new DPC Technology
Watch Series. The format of the new reports has had a major redesign, and
ISSN and DOI identifiers have been added. We hope these features will
enhance the use, citation and impact of the reports. Further reports on
Preservation of Moving Picture and Sound, Intellectual Property Rights for
Digital Preservation, Digital Forensics and Preservation, and Preservation
Trust and Continuing Access for e-Journals will be released later in 2012.
The DPC and Charles Beagrie hope the new series will be a significant
contribution to encouraging digital preservation and best practice
worldwide.’****
Richard Ovenden, Deputy Director of the Bodleian Libraries at Oxford
University and Chair of the DPC welcomed the report. ‘This is the tenth
anniversary of the Coalition, which was launched in the House of Commons in
February 2002. One of the ways we are marking this year is by releasing a
new set of reports to update and extend the advice we offer. The
Technology Watch Reports are a popular and lasting help to anyone
interesting in ensuring that their digital memory available in the long
term, and we work hard to ensure they are accessible as well as
authoritative. This new report of Preserving Email will be particularly
relevant to a wide readership so it’s a great way to kick off our tenth
anniversary year.’****
*The report is online at: **http://dx.doi.org/10.7207/twr11-01***
** **
--****
Dr William Kilbride FSA****
Executive Director****
Digital Preservation Coalition****
** **
44 (0)141 330 4522****
http://www.dpconline.org/****
[log in to unmask]****
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--
Peter Kurilecz CRM CA
[log in to unmask]
Richmond, Va
http://twitter.com/RAINbyte
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