U bent hier

RecordDNA

Abonneren op feed RecordDNA RecordDNA
International Research Network
Bijgewerkt: 3 uur 18 min geleden

What is a Record? Differing visions and perspectives

8 augustus 2018 - 11:04pm

We all require access to original, authentic, usable records. However, a major issue facing society is the extent to which the concept of the digital record has been challenged and, furthermore, to what extent the digital evidence base is at risk because we do not have all the tools to maintain and sustain it through time. In business we use it to inform decision-making, conduct inquiries, hold individuals and organisations to account, to demonstrate transparency, to innovate, to research the past and build on the work of others. However, whilst in a paper world the nature of records was understood and familiar, in the digital world some contend that the nature of records is shifting.

Rethinking the digital evidence base raises many questions. McLeod and Lomas have debated and researched the notions of fixity for well over a decade. In 2008 McLeod discussed the concept of liquidity and its place and value in information delivery. In 2013 Lomas concluded that fixity can be problematic in a world which calls for flexibility and information repurposing but that digital records are fragile and prone to splintering, i.e. losing key components whether through design or accident.

At the links are three different visions and perspectives on the nature of a record that emerged from the network. The visions aim to spark debate, discussion, research and processes for the maintenance of the digital evidence base through time. They are aimed at students, academics in any discipline, and professionals. The overview discussion is at What is a record_discussion and then vision one at What is a Record_Vision01, vision two at What is a Record_Vision02 and vision three at What is a Record_Vision03.

We welcome new record visions and considerations so please do add comments to this blog or email these.

Full colour hard copies are available in wallets for anyone who wishes to distribute them and/or use them as a discussion tool. Email e.lomas@ucl.ac.uk if you would like to receive copies.

Managing your digital footprint infographic

29 juli 2018 - 1:20pm

Every device we use captures some digital evidence so we have developed an infographic to raise awareness of how our digital footprint is created. Aimed at anyone, it considers what and where our digital footprint is and who is using it. It poses a series of questions to enable people to assess how much they know about their digital footprint, and how well they are safeguarding it for the future starting with:

  • What digital  devices do you have? A mobile phone, a smart  phone, a tablet, a    laptop, a fitness tracker, a  kindle?
  • What platforms, systems and services do you  use?   An Internet Service Provider, social media (Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp,    Instagram, Pinterest), office         software, Apps, search engines, online banking, online retail,     cloud services? How much control do you have when using these?
  • What are you creating and storing with these devices and services? Data, information, photos,       videos?

The aim is to prompt decisions about other steps we need to take to manage our digital footprint to meet our needs today, tomorrow and further into the future.

We attach the poster version but this is available as both a poster and a leaflet.

Managing_your_digital_footprint_poster

We hope it will appeal to all ages and start a conversation about the challenges of creating and capturing information. If you would like colour hard copies of either the poster and/or leaflet then please email e.lomas@ucl.ac.uk .

Infographics supporting the development of an R&D agenda to sustain the digital evidence base through time

18 juli 2018 - 9:36pm

We’re delighted that the infographics from the RecordDNA network are now produced. These outputs are aimed at difference audiences and stakeholders and for different purposes. They are based on the findings from two workshops, three crowdsourcing activities and the dissemination event in Westminster in November last year. In summary they are:

  1. A briefing which sets out steps for developing an R&D agenda to sustain the digital evidence base through time
  2. Managing your digital footprint, a roadmap to engage a range of record creators
  3. Visions of a record capturing differing stakeholder perspectives on what today is a record.

They are freely available – please download them and use them.

Attached is our first infographic: Developing an R&D agenda to sustain the digital evidence base through time: 

Research Agenda for the Digital Evidence Base – McLeod and Lomas

This briefing sets out the case for an R&D agenda to address the question explored by the network: ‘In the digital era what is the concept of the record and what implications are there for the usability and functionality of the future evidence base?’

In order to maintain the evidence base we cannot wait but must develop and deliver a proactive research agenda which will evolve over time. It is important to deliver solutions that can be applied immediately for current challenges and newly emerging technologies. In addition, we need to develop longer term strategies which will need to be tested and trialed and also examine more fundamental philosophical issues. The leaflet considers the challenge in terms of:

  • People issues
  • Technology
  • Policy and processes
  • Ethics, rights and legal issues

This work is aimed at funders, academics, practitioners and others interested in undertaking research and developing collaborative partnerships to tackle this ‘grand challenge’ in order to sustain the shifting evidence base through time. We are interested in working with others to deliver on this agenda.

If you would like printed colour copies of the briefing then please email e.lomas@ucl.ac.uk . Do add feedback to the blog on the infographics and let us know about your experiences of using them.

Nick Thomas-Symonds MP – Speech at Westminster event

15 december 2017 - 10:33am

Speaking at the network’s dissemination event in Westminster on 30 Nov 2017, Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, and Co-Chair of the All Parliamentary Archives Group, stressed the reliance of members of parliament, amongst others, on records “to inform debate, make better laws and hold the executive to account” (FullSpeech). But he feared we take their availability for granted and therefore highlighted the importance of the RecordDNA event.

He spoke of today’s “unprecedented risk” to the digital evidence base illustrating some of the challenges with reference to the UK Civil Service context and the House of Commons’ emergency debate on President Trump’s twitter outburst (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/30/rudd-donald-trump-bigger-picture-uk-us-britain-first) sent to the wrong Teresa May. He said he was “particularly pleased – not to say relieved! – that a significant number of ‘experts’ in the records profession have foreseen this risk and are doing something about it.” All of this underlined the importance of the RecordDNA network.

Read the full speech here: NickThomas-SymondsSpeech

Engaging event in Westminster, 30 Nov 2017

8 december 2017 - 7:06pm

Almost 50 people gathered in the Jubilee Room in Westminster to hear about and comment on the network’s achievements. The event’s sponsor, Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, came directly from an emergency debate in the House of Commons on President Trump’s latest twitter outburst (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/30/rudd-donald-trump-bigger-picture-uk-us-britain-first) to given his perspective on the importance of ensuring the future availability of the digital evidence base. He made reference to the implications of wanting tweets, such as Trump’s to Prime Minister Teresa May, to be deleted for the completeness of the evidence base and for future historians.

The event opened with a fascinating range of perspectives on the challenges and the importance of the network and its work to date from Sir Alex Allan, author of two reports on government recordkeeping (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/records-review-by-sir-alex-allan and https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-digital-records-and-archives-review-by-sir-alex-allan), and members of the network’s Steering Committee – Dr Valerie Johnson, Director of Research and Collections, The National Archives and Dr John Sheridan, Digital Director, The National Archives; Jane Winters, Professor of Digital Humanities, School of Advanced Study, University of London and Dr David Thomas, Visiting Professor, Northumbria University.

We shared findings on the components of a record’s DNA and visions of the ‘ideal’ future digital evidence base from our second workshop. It is clear there is no one single vision. We moved on to discuss the range of research and practice development needed to realise these visions. This spans the full range of research types – from blue sky to strategic and applied – which is very positive. The two areas ranked in a survey as being a high priority with relevance across disciplines and/or domains of practice were personal data management and privacy issues, together with issues relating to legislative domains. These may have been influenced by current concerns about privacy and security, about changes in data protection legislation (eg the GDPR in Europe) and, for those in Europe, Brexit.

We challenged the audience to consider how we might position future research in a wider context, to engage people in the challenge and/or help to advocate the importance of having a usable digital evidence base. This followed an example suggested in the survey asking how can digital data be leveraged in order to ensure the health of the planet?

We closed the event by gathering ideas about potential infographic outputs (such as the award winning digital humanities infographic at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ah/documents/humanitiesmatter300.pdf) and their audience, together with ideas for making the case to funders to support work on the digital evidence base.

Slides from the event are here and the text of Sir Alex Allan’s comments here.

Further outputs will be added to the blog.

RecordDNA event on Int. Digital Preservation Day

17 november 2017 - 1:29pm

We have finalised arrangements for our third network event on 30 November 2017, 11-1pm in the Jubilee Hall, Westminster which is International Digital Preservation Day (#IDPD17). Details are below.

We’re delighted to have MP and Co-Chair of the All Parliamentary Group on Archives Nick Thomas-Symonds open the event and Sir Alex Allan, author of two reports on government recordkeeping, speak in the opening session.

There are a few places still available if you wish to register at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/recorddna-developing-an-international-research-agenda-for-the-future-digital-evidence-base-tickets-38459298798. You’ll be able to hear about what we have achieved in the network so far and be able to contribute to shaping the final outputs.

Looking forward to an interesting discussion.

 

RecordDNA: An AHRC funded international research network 30 November 2017, Jubilee Hall, Westminster

10.00-10.45     Refreshments in the Jubilee Café and then moving to the Jubilee for an 11am  start

11.00     Welcome – Julie McLeod and Elizabeth Lomas

Event Introduction Nick Thomas-Symonds MP and Co-Chair All Parliamentary Archives Group

Aims of the RecordDNA network and this event– Julie McLeod

Relevance of the network in the context of government recordkeeping policies – Sir Alex Allan

Multidisciplinary academic and professional perspectives on the challenge– Steering Committee members

11.45     DNA components of a record

Vision of the ‘ideal’ useable digital evidence base

Including audience interaction

12.15    A research agenda to deliver the vision

Including audience interaction

12.45    Wrap up & next steps– Julie McLeod

12.55     Event ends

More about Workshop 2…

30 september 2017 - 10:37pm

Following the first activity on the components of a record (https://recorddna.wordpress.com/2017/07/23/workshop-2-newcastle-20-july-2017/) we went on to envisage and describe the ‘ideal’ digital evidence base of the future and the challenges of realising it. The descriptions included emotional responses to the ideal i.e. how people would feel if we achieved it. The five groups came up with different visions.

Each group then identified research questions and practical problems needing to be addressed if their ideal was to be achieved before selecting one or two to develop further. A sample is captured in the images below illustrating their variety – form fundamental philosophical questions to urgent practical questions (e.g. implementing appropriate data protection and the problems of scale), people skills and the influence of human behaviour. Totally fascinating.

IdealDEB01-2IdealDEB02-1IdealDEB03-1IdealDEB04-2IdealDEB05-1RQ1 (1)RQ2RQ3RQ4

RQ5  

During the day we captured other research questions/topics relating to a record’s DNA and the future usable digital evidence base, ranging from ‘what is content?’ and ‘can there be a “record” without metadata?’ to rogue behaviour and information/digital literacy skills, and ‘what AI systems should do and what should human kind do?’ They covered the full range of people, technical and process aspects.

We our now using these ideas to develop a research agenda. We are asking for your input into the development of this agenda. Please add your ideas to this survey at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/PGLDNML [Note the survey closes on Monday 16th October].   This is your chance to shape future research both in academia and practice!

Workshop 2 report

21 september 2017 - 5:45pm

The outputs from Workshop 2 have been compiled into a report.

It captures the components of a digital record, the vision of the ‘ideal’ digital evidence base and the emotions it would generate, and the research needed to achieve the ‘ideal’.

We will soon be starting to crowdsource further ideas and views about the research needed so that we can develop a draft research agenda for anyone to use. But please do post your thoughts on research and anything in the report either below or on our Twitter account.

IMG_4638

Workshop 2 – Newcastle 20 July 2017

23 juli 2017 - 6:44pm

We held our second workshop last week and it was extremely successful. One participant said it was the best workshop she had ever been at! The 27 participants came from the UK, Europe, Australia, Canada and the USA and their backgrounds were deliberately diverse – from philosophers, historians, legal experts and archivists/records managers to computer scientists, data scientists and security experts. In the words of one of them ‘a seriously impressive group of people.’ The full list is in the events/activities tab (https://recorddna.wordpress.com/eventsactivities/)

We divided into five groups and worked on three activities focusing on the DNA of a digital record and the challenges for the digital evidence base to identify a research agenda.

In the first activity each group reviewed the components of a record generated from the crowdsourcing. These were then either discarded or developed. Each group had differing perspectives on the components. Some felt they could be developed from the paper paradigm but for others the digital was entirely new. One group highlighted the component ‘content’ as symbolic of the record in its entirety – although options were built around this. Another identified the intrinsic and extrinsic components with the supporting infrastructure and wider contexts.

Below are snapshots of some of the different groups’ work – each hexagon represents a component.

An overview of the Tweets throughout the day is available at https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23RecordDNA  or by searching Twitter (https://twitter.com/hashtags) for #RecordDNA

More on the other activities in later posts….

 

The most significant components of a digital evidential record

21 juni 2017 - 12:02am

We are crowdsourcing the components of a digital evidential record. The link to our wiki survey is at http://www.allourideas.org/RecordDNAcomponents

Please can you go to the wiki survey. If you click on the second tab at the survey you will see all the components that others have already added. Going back to tab one you will see that in the open text box you can add any missing components – please do this.

You can then undertake the actual survey ranking exercise voting on the significance of the components– you need not get to the end as it keeps going comparing all the combinations but some votes would be helpful.

I look forward to reporting on your views.

Elizabeth Lomas