SELECTION AND APPRAISAL OF DATA

Digital Curation Life Cycle Diagram

INTRODUCTION

The National Archives and Records Administration of the United States of America (NARA) (2020) has defined appraisal as the process of determining the value of records to determine the preservation period of the resource. The value can be temporal or permanent. It can also be administrative, legal, research or historical. Despite an explosion in generation of information, Yeo (2018) envisioned a future where all records were to be preserved for eternity as an aftermath of digital curation reality. Nonetheless, Sucha-xaya (2024) argues that there is a need to appraise records and archives to ensure efficient and effective records and archives management whilst offering effortless search and retrieval regimes of the preserved resources. It should be noted that appraisal is conducted during the inception and life of borne resources. Review of the appraised resources can be conducted to weed those resources which no-longer possess value for preservation or to ascertain the currency of the file format for migration if necessary to ensure continued access of the preserved resources (Niu, 2014).

METHODS OF SELECTING RESOURCES

There are three methods which can be used for selecting resources for curation. The first one is Statistical Sampling Method. The method involves sampling to select resources for curation. Two kinds of sampling can be used to select resources for digital curation. The first one is Systemic Sampling that selects every nth item from a population and the second one is random sampling that selects items from a population with equal probability regardless of their values. The second method is Risk Analysis. The method involves assessment of the kinds of risks that could possibly happen to digital resources, as well as the probability and consequence of each risk. Commonly mentioned risks during selection processes include risk of obsolescence of file format and storage media, risk of loss caused by not preserving the digital resources and by storing resources in an unsafe area. The third method for selection of resources for digital curation is appraisal which involves ascertaining the value of resources that are to be considered for digital curation.

APPRAISAL ASPECTS

Appraisal has got three main aspects. One of such aspects is Objects of Appraisal. The objects include context of resources qualifying for curation also known as macro-appraisal (Shepherd & Yeo, 2003); the appraisal of the resources also referred to as micro-appraisal which looks at content, physical conditions and technical characteristics of the resources with an eye on curation feasibility and cost; significant properties of the resources; metadata and documentation (Niu, 2014).

The second appraisal aspect is Appraisal Criteria which has such evaluation factors as mission alignment, value of digital resources, cost and feasibility of the resources to be part of a repository despite being resources of value (Niu, 2014). 

The final appraisal aspect is Curators Decisions which involves deciding on resources to be included for curation, retention period of curated resources, decommissioning of resources from curation after reviews and format migration for perpetual access of curated resources whenever necessary (Niu, 2014).

REFERENCES

National Archives and Records Administration of the United States of America (NARA). (2020). Federal records management: Appraisal policy of the national archives. NARA. https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/scheduling/appraisal#appendix1.

Niu, J. (2014). Appraisal and selection for digital curation. The International Journal of Digital Curation, 9(2), 65-82. https://doi.org/10.2218/ijdc.v9i2.27272

Shepherd, E. & Yeo, G. (2003). Managing records: A handbook of principles and practice. Facet.

Sucha-xaya, N. (2024). Finding values, building communities: development of an archival appraisal system for the Thai public sector. Archival Science, 24, 329-349. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10502-024-09433-1

Yeo, G. (2018). Can we keep everything? The future of appraisal in a world of digital profusion. In: C. Brown (Ed.), Archival futures, pp 45–64. Facet.