Digital Preservation (login required)

1. Introduction

The purpose of this policy is to acknowledge the risk to St George’s University London (SGUL) digital records and provide a framework for mitigating the risk of records becoming inaccessible.
To ensure SGUL maintains access to, and is able to understand and reuse its digital records, this policy provides an overview of what the digital preservation programme intends, while the standard operating procedures (SOPs) detail what actions will be taken to ensure a records longevity.   

2. Purpose

The purpose of the digital preservation policy is to ensure that digital records are effectively managed to ensure they retain their accessibility, integrity, and usability for as long as they are required.  
SGUL relies on digital records to carry out its administrative, research, and teaching activities.  It is essential that those digital records selected for long term retention, up to and including in perpetuity, are identified and digitally preserved in order to assist SGUL in:

• meeting legal and regulatory requirements
• retaining access to records throughout their lifecycle
• meeting the requirements of research sponsors that research remain accessible and usable and demonstrating compliance
• preserving our culture and heritage.

3. Scope

This policy covers the digital records SGUL needs to retain for long-term or permanent access and use, including born digital records, digitised records and the metadata associated with both.  The retention schedules identify records SGUL is required to keep either long-term or permanently.  
This policy applies to all staff whether permanent, contracted, or temporary who manage digital records.  

4. Principles

• Records Management, the Archives, and Research Data Support Management will work together to provide SGUL with consistent guidance to record creators and owners on the preservation of digital records.
• In order to support the preservation of records, owners and creators of records should be aware of the need to take preservation actions at the time a record is created:
  • Advice on best practice will be offered by the Archivist, Records Manager, and Research Data Support Manager
  • Advice will be made available via the SGUL internet.  
• SGUL will follow established digital preservation best practices and standards when determining how to preserve its digital records.
• All digital preservation processes and actions will be transparent and auditable:
  • SOPs will be created and revised where appropriate.  
• SGUL acknowledges the preservation of its digital records is an ongoing iterative process and practices will be regularly reviewed to ensure currency.  

5. Policy

SGUL will preserve digital records to ensure the records retain their essential characteristics of reliability, integrity, and usability over their lifecycle. 

1. Digital Records will be selected for preservation in line with the SGUL Records Retention Schedules and SGUL Archives and Special Collections Policy.
2. To support the authenticity of digital records metadata will be captured and maintained alongside the record.
3. Implementation of this policy will be supported by preservation tools such as recommended file formats, metadata, and a digital preservation system. 
4. Appropriate workflows for digitally preserving records will be created and maintained by the Records Manager, Archivist, and Research Data Support Manager.
5. The records will be made available to their designated community.  

6. Framework

The Digital Preservation Policy is informed by the following external documents, codes of practice, and standards:

• The Open Archival Information Systems (OAIS) Reference Model (ISO 14721)
• Freedom of Information Code of Practice (FOI 2000, Section 45)
• BSI 10008 Code of Practice for Legal Admissibility and Evidential Weight of Information Stored Electronically
• Civil Procedure Rules & Practice Directions – Part 31 – Disclosure and Inspection of Documents – Practice 31B – Disclosure of Electronic Documents
• Library of Congress PREMIS Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies
• The National Archives (TNA) Preserving Digital Records
• The National Archives (TNA) PRONOM Technical Registry
• Digital Preservation Coalition Digital Preservation Handbook.

7. Authorisation and monitoring

This policy will be reviewed on an annual basis by the Records Manager.

8. Glossary

Authenticity: the record is trustworthy and is what it purports to be.

Designated community: potential consumers of the records.

Digital preservation: the series of activities that need to take place in order to ensure ongoing access to the digital records, beyond the limits of technical obsolescence and organisational transformation. 

Electronic records: records created by staff as part of the day to day of the university. 

Integrity: a records wholeness and soundness; a record is said to have integrity when it is complete and uncorrupted. 

Lifecycle: refers to the life span of a record from creation to disposal or deposit in the Archive.  Various models of the records lifecycle exist, they all feature creation, use, and disposal. 

Metadata: Information about the record and the context they were created in.  Examples include title, location, create date, and keywords.  Metadata aids in the discovery, identification, and management of records.  

Retention period: period of time records are required to be kept for before they can be considered for destruction.  Retention is determined by legal requirements, regulatory requirements, and the need of the business. 

Retention schedules: considers legal requirements, regulatory requirements, and the requirements of the business to define how long a record should be kept before it is reviewed for disposal or transfer to the Archive.

Usability: a record that can be located, retrieved, and interpreted.