Archivist Digital Archives & Information Systems Flashcards

When digitizing audio recordings for archival preservation, which sampling rate and bit depth combination is recommended by most professional standards?

Answer: 96,000 Hz / 24-bit

Most professional archival standards, including those from IASA and the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI), recommend a minimum of 96 kHz / 24-bit for audio preservation masters.

What is the primary purpose of a Digital Preservation Policy in a repository?

Answer: To outline the organization's commitments, strategies, and responsibilities for preserving digital content over time

A Digital Preservation Policy articulates an institution's commitments, strategies, governance, and responsibilities for ensuring the long-term accessibility of digital content.

Which XML-based standard is used to encode the structural and administrative metadata of complex digital objects, often acting as a 'wrapper' for other metadata schemas?

Answer: METS

METS (Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard) is an XML schema for encoding descriptive, administrative, and structural metadata, and can act as a container for other schemas like PREMIS and MODS.

An archivist is assessing born-digital records received from a donor's old laptop. Which tool is most appropriate for creating a forensic disk image?

Answer: FTK Imager or Guymager

FTK Imager and Guymager are forensic imaging tools that create bit-for-bit copies of storage media while maintaining write-blocking and generating verification checksums.

What is the role of PRONOM in digital preservation workflows?

Answer: A technical registry of file formats maintained by The National Archives (UK)

PRONOM is an online technical registry maintained by The National Archives (UK) that provides authoritative information about file formats, including unique format identifiers (PUIDs) used by tools like DROID.

In the context of digital archives, what does 'significant properties' or 'essential properties' refer to?

Answer: The characteristics of a digital object that must be maintained for it to remain authentic and usable over time

Significant properties (also called essential properties) are the characteristics — such as content, context, behavior, or appearance — that must be preserved to ensure a digital object remains authentic and fit for purpose.

Which approach uses rules-based format identification by examining file headers, byte sequences, and internal structures rather than relying on file extensions?

Answer: Format identification by magic number analysis

Magic number analysis (signature-based format identification) examines specific byte sequences within files — such as file headers — to accurately identify formats regardless of file extension.