This is the opening presentation for module 3 of the 5-module course on digital preservation tools for repository managers, presented by the JISC KeepIt project.This module is a primer on preservation workflow, formats and characterisation, as preparation for the preservation planning tools to be encountered in module 4. For more on this and other presentations in this course look for the tag 'KeepIt course' in the project blog http://blogs.ecs.soton.ac.uk/keepit/

1. Digital Preservation Tools for
Repository Managers
A practical course in five parts
presented by the KeepIt project
in association with
Module 3, Primer on preservation workflow, formats and characterisation
Westminster-Kingsway College, London, 2 March 2010
Twitter hashtag #dprc(digital preservation repository course)

2. Course structure
• Module 1. Organisational issues
Scoping, selection, assessment, institutional parameters (19
January)
• Module 2. CostsLifecycle costs for managing digital objects, based
on the LIFE approach, and institutional costs (5 February)
• Module 3. Description Describing content for
preservation: provenance, significant properties
and preservation metadata (TODAY)
• Module 4. Preservation workflow toolsavailable in EPrints for
format management, risk assessment and storage, and linked to the
Plato planning tool from Planets (17-18 March)
• Module 5. Trust (by others) of the repository’s approach to
preservation; trust (by the repository) of the tools and services it
chooses (30th March)

3. A slight change in emphasis
Primer on preservation workflow, formats and
characterisation
• Controlling format risk
• Identifying significant characteristics
• Description:
– Provenance
– Preservation metadata

4. A bigger change in emphasis
Primer on preservation workflow, formats and
characterisation
• Controlling format risk
• Identifying significant properties
• Description:
– Provenance
– Preservation metadata

5. Tools today
• Significant characteristics, Stephen Grace
and Gareth Knight, King’s College London
• PREMIS, Open Provenance Model