curating data - the next frontier

Curating Data - The next Frontier

Günter WaibelDirector, Digitization Program Office

Smithsonian Institution

The nature of frontiers…

November 18, 2011

Digital Curation – What’s in a word?

November 18, 2011

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 4November 18, 2011 Library of Congress | http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2004666374/

Data/Digital Curation

Straddles disciplines– Focus on the sciences as

“data curation”– Extension to humanities

as “digital curation”

Straddles communities– Libraries (digital

preservation)– Archives (selection &

appraisal)– Museums (curation)

November 18, 2011

16 History, Art & Culture Museums

3 Science Museums, 6 Research Centers, 1 Zoo

1 Library (with 20 branches)

18 Archives

19 Museums

Smithsonian Institution

Digital Curation Lifecycle

http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/curation-lifecycle-model

MetadataAsset Management

Access Digitization

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 7

CreationDigitization Program

(Günter Waibel)

DeliveryWeb & New Media

(Mike Edson)DeliveryMobile Strategy &

Initiatives(Nancy Proctor)

Asset Management and Durability

Research Information Services

(Thornton Staples)

November 18, 2011

Smithsonian pan-Institutional Efforts

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 8November 18, 2011

External Pressure

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 9November 18, 2011

Digital Curation Centre (UK)DataONESmithsonian InstitutionUC Curation Center, California Digital LibraryUCLA LibraryUC San Diego LibrariesUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-ChampaignUniversity of Virginia Libraries

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 10November 18, 2011

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 11November 18, 2011

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 12November 18, 2011

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 13November 18, 2011

Internal Pressure

http://www.si.edu/About/Policies/#sd

Digital Asset Management Plans

How are digital assets managed for the long-term?

An exercise in self-awareness• What resources, procedures, standards, systems do we employ

to manage our resources?• Where do those resources, procedures, standards, systems fail

us?Driving decisions…• What resources, procedures, standards, systems do we need?

(unit)• What resources, procedures, standards, systems can we all

converge on? (pan-Institutional)

Digital Asset Management Plans

StateWhere are we?How are assets currently being managed?

AmbitionWhere do we want to go?Which assets actually need long–term management?

StrategyWhat is our plan?What is the most effective mechanism?

FundingHow do we fund it?

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 16

Predictions

• Funder and Institution requirements for DMPs will differ

• DMPs will surface points of failure (policies, resources, procedures, standards, systems, etc.)

• DMPs ultimately may help Smithsonian units work together more effectively

November 18, 2011

Günter Waibel | Smithsonian Institution 17

Curating Data - The next Frontier?

Be better at being introspective– The concepts of data curation could help us take a

more holistic view at existing practices.

Be better at being extroverted– Data curation could be a common ground of

conversation among different disciplines (humanties, sciences) and different communities (including libraries, archives, museums)

November 18, 2011

Photo by Dane Penland, Smithsonian Institution

digital

Than

k yo

u!

Günter Waibel | Director, SI Digitization Program Office | waibelg@si.edu