Archivist Digital Archives & Information Systems Flashcards

An institution wants to provide long-term web archiving of its organizational website. Which protocol and tool set is most commonly used for this purpose?

Answer: WARC format with Heritrix or Browsertrix crawler

WARC (Web ARChive) format combined with crawlers like Heritrix or Browsertrix is the industry standard for web archiving, capturing complete web content including assets and HTTP transaction data.

What is the primary distinction between descriptive metadata and preservation metadata in a digital archive?

Answer: Descriptive metadata supports discovery and identification of content while preservation metadata supports long-term management and viability of digital objects

Descriptive metadata facilitates resource discovery and intellectual access, while preservation metadata documents the technical characteristics, custody, and actions needed to maintain a digital object over time.

Which concept describes the chain of custody and documented history of a digital object from creation through its archival life?

Answer: Digital provenance (custodial history)

Digital provenance, sometimes called custodial history, documents the chain of custody and all actions taken on a digital object from its creation, supporting claims of authenticity and integrity.

An archivist must choose a format for long-term preservation of text documents with complex formatting. Which format is best suited?

Answer: PDF/A

PDF/A is an ISO-standardized version of PDF specifically designed for long-term archiving of electronic documents, prohibiting features that hinder long-term preservation such as encryption and external dependencies.

In a digital repository, what is the function of 'access copies' as distinguished from 'preservation masters'?

Answer: Access copies are optimized derivatives for user delivery while preservation masters are high-quality originals stored for long-term integrity

Preservation masters are high-quality original files stored for long-term integrity, while access copies are lower-resolution or compressed derivatives optimized for efficient delivery to end users.

Which international framework provides guidance on evaluating the trustworthiness of digital repositories through a self-assessment checklist based on OAIS?

Answer: DRAMBORA

DRAMBORA (Digital Repository Audit Method Based on Risk Assessment) is a self-assessment toolkit that helps repositories identify and manage risks related to their digital preservation obligations.

When an archivist applies 'normalization' as a preservation strategy, what action is being taken?

Answer: Converting diverse input formats to a smaller set of preferred preservation formats at ingest

Normalization converts files from many varied formats into a standardized set of preferred preservation formats (e.g., converting all word processing documents to PDF/A) to reduce format diversity and obsolescence risk.