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Conclusion and references

A policy statement should be developed to formalise the NSW Government's commitment to the preservation of records of Government business in digital formats. This policy should provide a framework for digital preservation that is:

  • low in impact and manageable for public offices
  • able to support a distributed model for the State's digital archives
  • in line with accepted standards for digital preservation such as OAIS, and
  • flexible to account for evolving technology and preservation methods.

The policy should address issues including:

  • preferred preservation technique/s,
  • the responsibilities regarding the defining of essential characteristics and content of digital records during the preservation process, and
  • required or recommended practice in managing the preservation process.

The policy should be applicable to any preservation activity carried out on digital State records, whether by pubic offices or State Records itself.

The policy will serve as an essential foundation for future efforts by State Records in assisting public offices with the preservation of their digital records and in the establishment of the State's first digital archiving facility.

References

AS ISO 15489 - 2002, Records Management

Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems, Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS), January 2002.

Electronic Transactions Act 2000(NSW)

Ellis, Judith A. (Ed.) Selected Essays in Electronic Recordkeeping in Australia, Australian Society of Archivists Inc. O'Connor, Canberra, 2000.

Evidence Act 1995 (NSW)

InterPARES Authenticity Task Force Report, 2002 Appendix 2: Requirements for Assessing and Maintaining the Authenticity of Electronic Records http://www.interpares.org/book/interpares_book_d_part1.pdf

InterPARES Preservation Task Force Report, 2001. http://www.interpares.org/book/interpares_book_f_part3.pdf

National Archives of Australia, An Approach to the Preservation of Digital Records, 2002. http://www.naa.gov.au/recordkeeping/er/digital_preservation/Green_Paper.pdf NSW Department of Commerce, People First - A new direction for ICT in NSW July 2006. http://www.gcio.nsw.gov.au/ict-strategic-plan

OASIS ODF Adoption Technical Committee, Open by Design: The advantages of the OpenDocument Format (ODF) An OASIS White Paper, December 2006

Rothenberg, Jeff Avoiding Technological Quicksand: Finding a Viable Technical Foundation for Digital Preservation, January 1998. http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/rothenberg/contents.html

State Records Act 1998

State Records, Standard on Full and Accurate Records, 2004. http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/recordkeeping/full_and_accurate_records_4443.asp