Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Thus we need to review the previous literature and then explain the approach taken
in this topic.
13.6.1 The Role of “Significant Properties”
The notion of Significant Properties has emerged as a key concept in preserva-
tion within the library community but has not been a concept that is much used
in the context of the preservation of research data that is not normally viewed as a
document. A number of definitions of Significant Properties have been proposed.
The CEDARS project [
152
] defined Significant Properties as
those characteristics [technical, intellectual, and aesthetic] agreed by the
archive or by the collection manager to be the most important features to preserve
over time.
Sergeant [
153
] on the other hand proposed that
Significant Properties are those attributes of an object that constitute the
complete (for the intended Consumer) intellectual content of that object
However the example given of Significant Properties for an e-thesis of
•
the complete text, including divisions into Chapters and Sections
•
the layout and style - particular fonts and spacing are essential
•
Diagrams
•
(perhaps web adverts are not Significant for our e-journals).
does seem more oriented to the rendering of the document in print or on screen,
rather than its intended intellectual content. These could be consistent if the
Designated Community were defined to have the appropriate knowledge base to
understand the rendering. However there would be problems if the knowledge base
of the Designated Community changes, for example if the language of the desig-
nated community changes from, say, English to Chinese. There must be underlying
Representation Information that supports the expression, or value, of the significant
properties listed for the e-thesis information object.
The OCLC/RLGWorking Group on Preservation “Metadata” [
154
] proposed the
definition:
Properties of the Content Data Object's rendered content which must be
preserved or maintained during successive cycles of the preservation process
Hedstrom and Lee [
155
] defined Significant Properties as
those properties of digital objects that affect their quality, usability, rendering,
and behaviour.
In that paper they have a number of links to the OAIS Reference Model, for
example
