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In: data sets, datamining, DDI3, digitalarchive, DigitalCuration, interoperability, standards, technologies, tools

The Data Documentation Initiative 3 (DDI 3) standard is a simply fabulous and full standard for metadata (data about data) as well as for the data contents, making it a full payload standard. DDI 3 is such an exciting standard because it allows for the possibility of true and full computational support for data harmonization and for really working with longitudinal data. It’s the type of data standard I’d been waiting for because it gets it. Data standards need to be able to support documenting, containing, expressing, and computing (analysis, harmonization, limitations on disclosure, everything we now do with less than ideal systems and methods).Read More →

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In: BornDigital, DigitalCuration, eliterature

OCLC published “Defining Born Digital” which is a short 4-page intro, and isn’t in any way meant to be comprehensive. The document doesn’t (and can’t without being much longer) begin to address many areas and doesn’t include references for further reading. For anyone interested in working with born digital materials, publications from the Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) are essential reading: Acid-Free Bits Born-Again Bits These publications are essential because electronic literature defines and redefines “born digital”. Electronic literature does so a highly experimental creative form that pushes the boundaries of existing technologies, creates new technologies, and uses/connects technologies in new ways that creates new conceptualRead More →

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In: BornDigital, CLIR, DigitalCuration, digitalhumanities

Matthew Kirschenbaum is one of the authors on this report and he’s also one of the authors on the Preserving Digital Worlds report and the author of the brilliant Mechanisms: New Media and the Forensic Imagination (which rightfully won MLA and SHARP book awards, and many others). I’ve been eagerly awaiting this report, and now it’s out in time for holiday reading! News Release: Digital Forensics and Born-Digital Content in Cultural Heritage Collections by Matthew G. Kirschenbaum, Richard Ovenden, Gabriela Redwine with research assistance from Rachel Donahue PDF Download of Complete Report (1 MB file) >> While the purview of digital forensics was once specializedRead More →

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In: datamining, DigitalCuration

“Coding Early Naturalists’ Accounts into Long-Term Fish Community Changes in the Adriatic Sea (1800–2000)” is a new article in PLoS One by researchers who mined historical data from materials found in archives to understand “fish communities’ changes over the past centuries” which “has important implications for conservation policy and marine resource management” (Abstract).  The article explains the difficulty in integrating qualitative and anecdotal historical data with modern data, and their methodology for coding historical data. This article is a great example of how historical materials from archives support all research areas, including current and future scientific research. With so many archives and cultural heritage institutionsRead More →