Digitisation Policy for the Western Cape Government and Municipalities in the Western Cape Province
POLICY 25: Capacity development for electronic records management
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- P OLICY 26: Promoting Research and Development
- P OLICY 27: Digital/electronic Best Practices and Standards
- ADDENDUM 1
POLICY 25: Capacity development for electronic records management
4.27.1 The lack of local national guidelines on digitisation is hampering the quality of projects and the digital heritage.
ADDENDUM 1ATTRIBUTES OF A RECORD 1. Authenticity
2. Accessibility
3. Citability
4. Content
5. Context
6. Functionality
7. Market value
8. Medium
9. Metadata
10. Object form
11. Presentation
12. Provenance
Principles derived from the attributes of records
ADDENDUM 2 LIST OF TERMS AND DEFINITIONS For the purpose of this policy, the following definitions apply: Access In this policy the term “access” is primarily used to indicate access through electronic means to digital heritage resources. The UNESCO Charter states that the purpose of preserving the digital heritage is to ensure that it remains accessible to the public and thus access should be free of unreasonable restrictions. Analogue In this policy the term “analogue” refers to archival records, heritage objects and resources, not in digital form, e.g. paper, stone (sculpture), tape recordings (non-digital), video recordings (non-digital), microfiche and models. Appraisal The process of determining the eventual disposal of records and the decision regarding the preservation requirements of each document or series of documents. Archival value Are those values, administrative, fiscal, legal, evidential and/or informational, which justify the indefinite of permanent retention of records. Archives Records in the custody of an archives repository. Archives repository A building in which records with archival value are permanently preserved. This can be supplemented by an electronic repository. Authentication A process in which a user is required to prove that they are who they say they are before being granted access to information resources and services. This is the basis for most modern security implementations. Author The person who is responsible for the creation of the material embodiment of a work. The creative activity in regard to the work must involve the application of independent intellectual effort or skill. The author of a literary, musical or artistic work is identified as the person who first made or created a work; the author of a photograph is the person identified as the person responsible for the composition of the photograph; the author of a cinematography film is the person responsible for making the arrangements for the making of the film; the author of a computer program is the person who exercised control over the making of the computer program. Authorship See the entry for author. Basic/Applied research Directed at solving a specific practical problem; utilising analytical tools, information and knowledge already available. Benchmarking An approach to research in which similar institutions or organisations are compared against one another in terms of their inputs, processes and outputs. Born digital Information content which is produced in digital form and which in many cases is never converted into physical form such as paper. Examples include digitisation of the intangible heritage and most modern electronic records management systems. Confidentiality Confidentiality and privacy are often thought of as the same and the terms are often used interchangeably. Confidentiality is a separate legal concept where information is given to a person under an obligation to keep the information confidential (e.g. a trade secret or information confided to someone). Confidential information is usually not available or readily accessible to the public. Conservation A set of activities that is intended to stabilise the physical or chemical condition of a record to prolong the life of a record and relevant metadata or to improve access to it through interceptive treatment. All measures and actions aimed at safeguarding cultural heritage to ensure its accessibility to present and future generations. Conservation embraces preventive conservation, remedial conservation and restoration. All measures and actions should respect the significance and the physical properties of the cultural heritage item. Conservation treatment and repair A series of interventions intended to improve or maintain a record’s physical and/or chemical stability, appearance or accessibility. These are usually physical actions that are performed on a record once damage has occurred, or in anticipation of damage or obsolescence.
Conservator The person responsible for choosing the most appropriate materials and methods, to the objectives of each specific treatment and consistent with currently accepted practice to halt the deterioration, of a record. A conservator is a professional, who has the training and the experience to act on cultural heritage with the aim to preserve it for future generations, always according to the guidelines of internationally accepted best practices and ethics. Copy, facsimile or surrogate A duplicate of an original record in, either, whole or in part. Copies are used as surrogates to preserve original records, while providing access to the information contained in the record. Use of copies as surrogates removes the stress associated with handling of fragile original records, and has been a recognised preservation strategy for libraries, museums and archives worldwide for over a century. Copying All methods of manufacturing a reproduction of a record in order to create a second record in the same, or new, medium/media. The subsequent copy will have its own attributes; including history of creation, metadata and requirements for control, preservation and access. Copyright A legal term describing rights given to creators for their literary and artistic works. It confers protection to a tangible creation, that is, to music composition, plays, screen writings, books, paintings, sculpture, ceramics, etc. Copyright protection is also awarded on an individual basis, to individual creators or heirs. Government texts are considered to be automatically in the public domain and are excluded from copyright. The provisions for awarding copyright to tangible objects and on an individual basis, makes it difficult to extend copyright to indigenous knowledge, which is often in oral form and is considered to be collectively owned by a particular community. CORI Common Repository Interface. This is a recommended implementation arising from this policy. Creative Commons A licensing arrangement, voluntarily entered into by the creator of a work; this arrangement specifies how a work may be used. There are a number of licensing categories to choose from: completely unrestricted, Creative Commons is a non-profit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright. Custody The guardianship and management of archival records based on their physical possession. Database A structured collection of data. Destruction The process of eliminating or deleting records, beyond any possible reconstruction. ISO 15489, 2001. Digital divide The difference in ICT infrastructure, access, content and capacity that occurs between the rich and the poor. This includes the divide between the rich and the poor nations, as well as the divide between the richer urban areas and the poorer rural areas of all countries of the world. Digital heritage Digital forms of representing heritage, in three forms: • Born digital: Heritage resources that are created in digital form, and for which the “original” is digital. These include electronic documents and records, digital arts, digital images, digital recordings, computer programs, data files and web sites.
• Digital information about heritage, such as descriptions, digital reconstructions of the original, databases. Digital master A Digital Master is a combination of digital files, metadata and index/manifest files which are structured as a unit which provides the basis for authenticity of digital records, and the means of reliable transfer between the creator and the Provincial Digital Repository. Digital migration The act of moving records from one system to another, while maintaining the records’ authenticity, integrity and usability. ISO 15489. 2001. Digital obsolescence The increasing speed at which newer versions of electronic hard- and software are replaced with successive generations of programs and equipment. Resulting in earlier versions of electric files, their supporting software and hardware quickly becoming obsolete. This poses a considerable challenge to cultural institutions, which need to preserve electronic records for the future. Digital preservation A set of specialised technical processes to ensure that digital records and documents remain accessible over the long term. Digital preservation consists of the activities that guard against loss of the digital heritage4. UNESCO (2003). UNESCO Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage. Adopted at the 32nd session of the General Conference of UNESCO, 17 October 2003. Digital repository A repository of digital resources structured into various collections. Also known as an electronic repository. Digital resources For the purpose of this policy digital resources are specifically digital content representing heritage resources, including all types of digital content on any form of media and in any format. Digital rights management The formal management of the bundle of rights associated with digital records. All items in historical and/or cultural collections have legal rights, these legal rights affect how these items can be used. These rights are separate from the rights of ownership. Rights management is, currently, seen as forming part of the considerations for the management of historical collections (i.e. collections management). It is imperative for institutions to recognise the necessity for managing the digital rights to their collection. See associated entries on: intellectual property, fair dealing or use, copyright. Digitisation The conversion of information in analogue form (that is, documents on paper, photographs, paintings, objects) into digital form. .
Disposal The action of either destroying or deleting a record; or, transferring it into archival custody. Document Any recorded information or object which can be treated as a unit. E-Culture/E-Heritage The reproduction of cultural and heritage elements to support the dual goals of long-term storage and preservations, as well as broadening access to such cultural resources and heritage resources. E-Government Electronic government: the usage of information technologies to improve how government operates, and how it communicates and interfaces with its stakeholders. E-Learning The effective usage of information technologies to enhance the ability to learn by providing access to materials, information, knowledge books, lessons, tests, and to provide a linkage to teachers on-line. Emulators Special-purpose computer programs that are able to reproduce in software the functionality of obsolete hardware, so that programs available in executable or object form for the obsolete hardware systems are able to be used without access to that hardware. Electronic record A record produced, housed or transmitted by electronic means rather than physical means; and that satisfied the definition of a record. Ephemeral records See entry under non-archival records. Ethics Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. The Greek word ethos can mean custom, habit, character or disposition. Ethics are the well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. Ethics covers the following dilemmas: how to live a good life; our rights and responsibilities as members of a larger society; the language of right and wrong; moral decisions - what is good and bad? Although law, personal feelings, religion and prevailing social morals are often cited as examples of ethical standards, or at the least, guiding influences for ethical standards - as these can, in fact, deviate from what is ethical. Ethical principles can provide a guide for action in the absence of any other guidelines or laws. At the heart of ethics is a concern about something or someone other than oneself, and one’s own desires and self-interest. Ethics is concerned with other people's interests, with the interests of society and the world. So, when a person 'thinks ethically' they are giving at least some thought to something beyond themselves. Examples of ethical standards include those that impose the reasonable obligation to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault, slander, and fraud; as well as those that enjoin virtues of honesty, compassion, and loyalty. Ethical standards also include standards relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury, and the right to privacy. Such standards are adequate standards of ethics because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons. Fair dealing or fair use The limited copying and use of a work for educational purposes or for private study. It allows for the copying/reproduction of a limited portion (usually no more than one third of the total work) for non-commercial purposes. Most libraries and archives allow for the copying of works or records on the assumption that copies are to be used for the purposes of private study, research or for educational purposes. Copyright is not considered to be infringed upon, if the copying or reproduction of a work falls within the limits of fair use. Within cultural institutions, including archives, fair use also extends to the copying and reproduction of records for in-house uses, for example, creating low resolution thumbnail images to display images of records on the internet. Fair use also extends to the use of copies or reproductions for the purposes of promoting the use of the institution’s collection Facsimile See under the definition of copy. File format Information and data is stored in binary digits, or bits. The manner in which these bits are combined into larger structures is called a file format. Governmental body Any legislative, executive, judicial or administrative organ of the state, including a statutory body, commission, board or council, in the provincial or local sphere of government in the province of the Western Cape. See also entry for public record. 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