First Report

You've Got to Walk Before You Can Run: First Steps for Managing Born-Digital Content Received on Physical Media

An OCLC Research Report by:
Ricky Erway, OCLC Research

Download the report (.pdf: 45K/5 pp.)

Second Report

Swatting the Long Tail of Digital Media: A Call for Collaboration

An OCLC Research Report by:
Ricky Erway, OCLC Research

Download the report (.pdf: 46K/7 pp.)

The first report, You've Got to Walk Before You Can Run: First Steps for Managing Born-Digital Content Received on Physical Media is intended for anyone who doesn’t know where to begin in managing born-digital materials. It errs on the side of simplicity and describes what is truly necessary to start managing born-digital content on physical media, and it presents a list of the basic steps without expanding on archival theory or the use of particular software tools. It does not assume that policies are in place or that those performing the tasks are familiar with traditional archival practices, nor does it assume that significant IT support is available.

The second report, Swatting the Long Tail of Digital Media: A Call for Collaboration, urges a collaborative approach for conversion of content on various types of digital media. As with First Steps, the document refers only to born-digital material on physical media. This essay is intended for managers who are making decisions on where to invest their born-digital time and money. It should help them understand that any expectations that local staff will be able to handle everything are probably impractical. We hope it’ll also help archivists (and others) in the trenches breathe a sigh of relief to think that perhaps they won’t have to deal with an array of obsolete media all on their own. 

Several other reports will follow in the coming months.

We called upon an informal group of experts for feedback on our ideas and drafts, and they responded with detailed insights and remarkable energy. While not all details in the reports represent consensus, their spirited debates and valued advice improved them greatly.

• Nancy Enneking
  Head of Institutional Records and Archives,
  Getty Research Institute
• Riccardo Ferrante
  Director, Digital Services,
  Smithsonian Institution Archives
• Ben Goldman
  Digital Records Archivist,
  Pennsylvania State University
• Gretchen Gueguen
  Digital Archivist,
  Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library,
  University of Virginia
• Matthew Kirschenbaum
  Associate Professor of English and Associate Director,
  Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities (MITH),
  University of Maryland
• Christopher (Cal) Lee
  Associate Professor, School of Information and Library Science,
  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Veronica Martzahl
  Records Archivist, Digital Collections and Archives,
  Tufts University
• Matthew McKinley
  Digital Project Specialist,
  University of California, Irvine
• Naomi L. Nelson
  Director, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library,
  Duke University
• Erin O'Meara
  Archivist,
  Gates Archive
• Chris Prom
  Assistant University Archivist,
  University of Illinois, Urbana/Champaign
• Gabriela Redwine
  Archivist and Electronic Records/Metadata Specialist,
  Harry Ransom Humanities Research Institute,
  University of Texas, Austin
• Seth Shaw
  Electronic Records Archivist,
  Duke University Archives
• Rob Spindler
  University Archivist and Head, Archives and Special Collections,
  Arizona State University Libraries
• Susan Thomas
  Digital Archivist and Project Manager, Bodleian Library,
  Oxford University
• Dave Thompson
  Digital Curator,
  Wellcome Library
• Jennifer Waxman
  Senior Manager for Preservation & Access, 
  Center for Jewish History
   

Related information:

Activity page:
Demystifying Born Digital

Author's video about the first report, You've Got to Walk Before You Can Run: First Steps for Managing Born-Digital Content Received on Physical Media (1:40)

Author's video about the second report, Swatting the Long Tail of Digital Media: A Call for Collaboration (2:02)

First report publication announcement:
New Report:You've Got to Walk Before You Can Run: First Steps for Managing Born-Digital Content Received on Physical Media

Second report publication announcement:
New Report: Swatting the Long Tail of Digital Media: A Call for Collaboration

Suggested citations:
Erway, Ricky. 2012. You've Got to Walk Before You Can Run: First Steps for Managing Born-Digital Content Received on Physical Media. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Research.
http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2012/2012-06.pdf.

Erway, Ricky. 2012. Swatting the Long Tail of Digital Media: A Call for Collaboration. Dublin, Ohio: OCLC Research. http://www.oclc.org/research/publications/library/2012/2012-08.pdf.