[ARSCLIST] A reserach project

[alessandro bellafiore <alessandrobellafiore@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello,

I'm Alessandro Bellafiore, I write you from Italy.

I'm a student and, at the present time, I'm writing a research project to
entry a PhD at Udine University about information preservation.  I'm mainly
interested in sound recorded documents.

But, it's physiologic I think, my knowledge is incomplete; so for me may be
truly important to have your opinion about the topic I'd like to approach.

It's a general design for a research project, actually I haven't enough
knowledge to know exactly what I'm going to do (and how to do it!), I think
I'll understand exactly on what is interesting to focus just working… isn't
it? I'm sorry it's a little bit a long text.

My idea is about implementing particular Representation Information. With
the term Representation Information are referred those metadata concerning
useful information for using and understanding a document. In the Premis
project, of which I use terminology according to OAIS standard, those
information are divided into two different parts: structural and semantic.

I'd like to focus on structural metadata that "would include a specification
of the data format and possibly a description of the hardware/software
environment needed to access the data". (from Premis project framework
document)

Extending the structural Representation Information it may be possible to
write something like a "curriculum vitae" for every document.

A "curriculum" giving us information about the origin, name, kind of a
document; but giving, at the same time, information about the way of using,
manipulating and preserving a document and also about the hardware/software
environment to be used/or used in the past to process our document. Keeping
a memory about use and preservation actions and their effects.

Information useful for the original document as for its digital version (and
also for digital native document, due to the fact that often the public
document is not equal to the one for long term preservation).

Developing and fixing shared opinions about procedures and hardware setups
and keeping trace of practical know-how may be an interesting idea from may
points of view.

Creating "reference documents" will permit to avoid runaway proliferation of
different metadata organizations, to reduce necessary memory for recording
metadata (reference to specific Reference Documents will be used) and it
will create, I think in a not too long time, a *corpus* of shared knowledge
useful in the long-term use and preservation.

For example here you are many items possibly recorded into a Reference
Document:

-         document information (format, period, physical data and so one)

-         document using (in the future will be less obvious how to use
objects and technologies we use today, as for us is sometime difficult to
understand past technologies)

-         restoration process projecting (before) and documenting (after)

-         preservation process scheduling (before-during) and documenting
(after)

-         hardware and software setup suggestion or documentation

-         processing information (e.g. for digitization)

-         storage information

-         migration documentation

-         etc.

Obviously it may be possible apply this system to recorded sound documents,
that is my main interest in this moment; for example, for 78 rpm records, on
which often I work, it will possible to memorize actual reproduction speed,
suggested needle type, cartridge but also information about Eq curve, sound
cleaning, storage, cleaning procedures etc.

A part of that information will be contained in the metadata concerning the
single record but, for other items, like setup and working procedures, it
may be possible referring to a general document just indicating the document
code or something similar.

Obviously those Reference Documents have to be written in a correct and
shared way and it's necessary to project a mechanism of document update and
preservation and using a language (like XML) stable an more compatible as
possible.

I know maybe it's not possible for a single person the study the whole
problem, and anyway not in only three years (my research period) but I hope
I may give a little contribution in this direction

What do you think about that idea? Do you see so enormous mistakes?

Please give me any opinion or suggestion; I read every day your discussion
group and I understood here there are a lot of people with great competence
and experience and I hope you may give me many useful suggestions.

Many thanks

Regards

Alessandro Bellafiore