This document specifies BagIt, a hierarchical file package format for the exchange of generalized digital content. A "bag" has just enough structure to safely enclose a brief "tag" and a payload but does not require any knowledge of the payload's internal semantics. This BagIt format should be suitable for disk-based or network-based file package transfer. One important use case is the possibility of eventual safe return of a received bag. Tag information consists of a small number of top-level reserved file names, checksums for transfer validation, and optional small metadata blocks.

Also see GrabIt

An increasing number of institutions throughout the world face legal obligations or business needs to collect and preserve digital objects over several decades. A range of tools exists today to support the variety of preservation strategies such as migration or emulation. Yet, different preservation requirements across institutions and settings make the decision on which solution to implement very diffcult. The PLANETS Preservation Planning approach [JCDL2007] provides a solid way of making informed and accountable decisions on which solution to implement in order to optimally preserve digital objects for a given purpose. It is based on earlier work done in the DELOS Digital Preservation Cluster and builds on Utility Analysis to evaluate the performance of various solutions against well-defined requirements and goals. The methodology can be applied to any class of strategy, be it migration, emulation or different approaches, and has been validated in a series of case studies. Until now, preservation planning is largely a manual and tedious process where available solutions are evaluated against the specific requirements of a particular situation. Plato implements the well-documented and validated preservation planning methodology and integrates registries and services for preservation action and characterisation. It furthermore provides a sophisticated web-based interface for guiding the planner through the process.

The dynamic combination of QFS with HSMs such as Sun StorageTek SAM represents a powerful tool for developing archiving practices for specific industries or applications. When combined within a Sun integrated stack of software, hardware, and services, these file systems provide the foundation for Information Life Cycle Management with application integration. This combination allows data to be managed based on its value to the business.

Carl Grant

Tessella, the world leader in digital archiving
technology, has developed a ‘Safety Deposit Box’
to provide services to allow you to store and preserve
critical digital information in a highly reliable yet
accessible manner. Whether you are driven by
regulatory compliance, protection of digital property,
or effective knowledge management, you can rely on
Tessella SDB to maintain the information for as long
as you need it. Tessella SDB can be summed up in
three words:
Safety: The information that SDB manages can
always be found, whatever technology changes
occur in the future.
Deposit: SDB is a storage system where digital
knowledge is written, not manipulated. Accidental
deletion or changes are not possible.
Box: Tessella SDB is separate from your existing
operational systems. It is scalable from small
departmental servers to vast silos.
Service Architecture
SDB delivers a range of services to link with your
existing information management systems, including:
• Ingest automation
• Secure storage of digital objects
• Secure storage of metadata
• Resource discovery
• Digital preservation toolkit

DROID (Digital Record Object Identification) is a software tool developed by The National Archives to perform automated batch identification of file formats. Developed by its Digital Preservation Department as part of its broader digital preservation activities, DROID is designed to meet the fundamental requirement of any digital repository to be able to identify the precise format of all stored digital objects, and to link that identification to a central registry of technical information about that format and its dependencies.

This Report explores the roles, rights, responsibilities and relationships of institutions, data centres and other key stakeholders who work with data. It concentrates primarily on the UK scene with some reference to other relevant experience and opinion, and is framed as “a snapshot” of a relatively fast-moving field. It is strategically positioned to provide a bridge between the high-level RIN Framework of Principles and Guidelines for the stewardship of research data, and practitioner-focussed technical development work1. For ease of cross-reference, the number(s) of the relevant RIN Principle(s) are given against each of the recommendations1.

European study under DRIVER of standards important to this effort

The online registry of technical information. PRONOM is a resource for anyone requiring impartial and definitive information about the file formats, software products and other technical components required to support long-term access to electronic records and other digital objects of cultural, historical or business value.

EPrints is the most flexible platform for building high quality, high value repositories, recognised as the easiest and fastest way to set up repositories of research literature, scientific data, student theses, project reports, multimedia artefacts, teaching materials, scholarly collections, digitised records, exhibitions and performances.

SWORD (Simple Web-service Offering Repository Deposit) will take forward the Deposit protocol developed by a small working group as part of the JISC Digital Repositories Programme by implementing it as a lightweight web-service in four major repository software platforms: EPrints, DSpace, Fedora and IntraLibrary. The existing protocol documentation will be finalised by project partners and a prototype ‘smart deposit’ tool will be developed to facilitate easier and more effective population of repositories. The project intends to take an iterative approach to developing and revising the protocol, web-services and client implementation through evaluative testing and feedback mechanisms. Community acceptance and take-up will be sought through dissemination activities. The project is led by UKOLN, University of Bath, with partners at the Aberystwyth University, the University of Southampton and Intrallect Ltd. The project aims to improve the efficiency and quality of repository deposit and to diversity and expedite the options for timely population of repositories with content whilst promoting a common deposit interface and supporting the Information Environment principles of interoperability. For a handy introduction to SWORD, please see the following paper in Ariadne (as deposited in CADAIR).

Download PDF (326 KB) Fedora Commons is happy to post the draft of the first Fedora Commons Technology Roadmap. This is the beginning of a community process for governing technology development in Fedora Commons. The roadmap summarizes the strategic vision of Fedora Commons that guides development, documents the themes and priorities of our community summarizing the needs we will address, and provides a plan for the software releases we hope will enable those who adopt our technology.

Rapidly-expanding capacity requirements coupled with an industry shift to disk-based data storage make affordable, scalable, manageable and reliable storage hardware a “must-have” for institutions and enterprises of all sizes and ilks. Organizations around the globe, including major digital preservation sites, large outsourcers, co-locators, universities, libraries, scientific institutes, health care organizations, commercial film labs, and national archives have turned to Capricorn for their data storage solutions. For these customers, the PetaBox has redefined the economics of storage. With its unique storage architecture, Capricorn Technologies’ PetaBox delivers high density, highly reliable, highly scalable, and highly available data storage in a flexible environment with very low total cost of ownership. Whether you are looking to consolidate or migrate storage, streamline data archiving, expand overall capacity, or house fixed data content, the PetaBox offers an effective, affordable solution.

HTTrack is an easy-to-use offline browser utility. It allows you to download a World Wide website from the Internet to a local directory, building recursively all directories, getting html, images, and other files from the server to your computer. HTTrack arranges the original site's relative link-structure. Simply open a page of the "mirrored" website in your browser, and you can browse the site from link to link, as if you were viewing it online. HTTrack can also update an existing mirrored site, and resume interrupted downloads. HTTrack is fully configurable, and has an integrated help system.

At Sun, our vision is to eliminate the "Digital Divide" that prevents people from getting an education because they don't have access to the right technology. Bridging this divide will accelerate everyone’s ability to join the Participation Age, enabling us to learn, share, interact, and solve problems together.

To fulfill that vision, Sun's mission is to help customers build the Digital Campus, a unified campus network in which individuals can interact and collaborate—no matter where they are—in a seamless, secure, personalized environment for learning and achievement.