Access

DEFINITION

Organizations with a mandate to support public access to permanent electronic government records are subject to authorized restrictions. An ISO 14721 conforming digital repository will provide consumers with trustworthy records in “disclosure free” Dissemination Information Packages (DIPs) redacted to protect, privacy, confidentiality, and other rights where appropriate, and searchable metadata that users can query to identify and retrieve records of interest to them. Production of DIPs is tracked, especially when they involve extractions, to verify their trustworthiness and to identify query trends that are used to update electronic accessibility tools to support these trends.

The digital repository has no capability to support access to permanent electronic government records in its custody.

Move Up to Level 1:

The Archives adopts a method for providing partially conforming DIPs to its designated community in at least one open standard/technology neutral format.

The digital repository provides copies of partially conforming ISO 14721 DIPs in at least one (1) format (e.g., digital photographs in JPEG 2000).

Move Up to Level 2:

The Archive adopts a method for providing partially conforming DIPs to its designated community in at least two open standard/technology neutral formats through normalization on ingest or migration on demand.

The digital repository supports access only to partially conforming ISO 14721 DIPs in at two (2) open standard technology neutral (OS/TN) file formats (e.g., PDF/A, JPEG 2000, or TIFF).

Move Up to Level 3:

The Archives establishes policies and procedures relating to its practices for transforming electronic records into formats that enable access by its designated communities. The Archives addresses elements missing from its DIPs to bring them into conformance with the ISO 14721 standard.

The ISO 14721 conforming digital repository produces DIPs in at least six (6) open standard technology neutral (OS/TN) file formats. The ISO 14721 conforming digital repository analyzes user query trends to identify the need for updated accessibility tools.

Move Up to Level 4:

The Archives monitors the needs and requirements of its designated communities of records consumers to produce conforming DIPs in required formats.

The ISO 14721 conforming digital repository disseminates DIPs containing records in any format that users request. The ISO 14721 conforming digital repository enables redaction of electronic records with access restrictions in its custody where appropriate.

Sustain Level 4:

Redaction and other access restrictions are in place for all electronic records in the digital repository. The digital repository adapts to changing user demands and technologies to provide conforming DIPs in a variety of formats.

HELPFUL HINTS

Digital repositories are likely to have limits on the number and type of file formats they use to respond to user requests and the formats will undoubtedly change over time. As detailed in DPCMM component 7, Designated Communities, the digital repository must sustain its understanding of producer and user requirements to enable discovery and identification of material of interest.

REMINDER

The CoSA Digital Preservation Capability self-assessment and Level Up Roadmap are based on the DPCMM so there is an assumption that archival institutions seeking to establish trusted digital repositories for permanent electronic government records will conform their operations to the specifications of ISO 14721 and ISO 16363, the de facto standards for the global digital preservation community.

DPC Components

Preservica
National Archives