Understanding and Implementing PREMIS
K. Bredenberg

A. Dappert

E. Zierau

National Archives of Sweden
P.O. Box 12541
Stockholm
Swedenkarin.bredenberg@riksarkivet.se

British Library
96 Euston RoadLondon, NW1 2DB
United Kingdom
Angela.Dappert@gmail.com

The Royal Danish Library
Søren Kierkegaards Plads 11016 Copenhagen K
Denmark
elzi@kb.dk

ABSTRACTThis tutorial will provide participants with an introduction to
the PREMIS Data Dictionary [1]. It will give a basic overview ofthe standard and explore different models of implementation.

KEYWORDS
Preservation strategies and workflows; Infrastructure, systems,and tools; Case studies, best practices and novel challenges;
Training and education

1 INTRODUCTION
The PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata is a
specification that provides a key piece of infrastructure for
digital preservation activities, playing a vital role in enabling theeffective management, discovery, and re-usability of digital
information. Preservation metadata provides provenanceinformation, documents preservation activity, identifies
technical features, and aids in verifying the authenticity ofdigital objects. PREMIS is a core set of metadata elements (called“semantic units”) recommended for use in all preservation
repositories regardless of the type of materials archived, the typeof institution, and the preservation strategies employed.

2 SUMMARY OF TUTORIAL
The PREMIS Data Dictionary was originally developed by thePreservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS)
Working Group in 2005 and revised in 2008 and 2015. It ismaintained by the PREMIS Editorial Committee and the PREMIS
Maintenance Activity is managed by the Library of Congress [2].
We have seen a constant call for PREMIS to undertake
tutorials, such as this, as more and more organisations come togrips with digital preservation. This tutorial provides anintroduction to PREMIS and its data model and an examinationof the semantic units in the Data Dictionary organized by theentities in the PREMIS data model, objects, events, agents andrights.
In addition it presents examples of PREMIS metadata and a
discussion of implementation considerations, particularly using
PREMIS in XML and with the Metadata Encoding andTransmission Standard (METS) [3]. It will include examples ofimplementation experiences through the institutional experienceof the tutors.

The tutorial aims at developing and spreading awareness andknowledge about metadata to support the long term preservationof digital objects.

3 CONTENT OUTLINE
The draft outline for the tutorial is outlined below.
Introduction to PREMIS- Background (brief history and rationale of PREMIS)- Benefits of implementing PREMISPREMIS in detail- Core entities- Simple examples to build familiarity
Implementation- PREMIS in METS
- Case studies- Support and the PREMIS community- Conformance
Next Steps- Round table discussion for institutional plans
Wrap up

4INTENDED AUDIENCE

The tutorial will benefit individuals and institutions interested inimplementing PREMIS metadata for the long-term management
and preservation of their digital information but who have
limited experience in implementation. Potential audience
includes cultural heritage operators, researchers and technology
developers, professional educators, and others involved inmanagement and preservation of digital resources.
The presentation is structured into two parts. The first part isintended for beginners with little or no knowledge of PREMIS,
while the second half will cover more advanced use of PREMIS
for practicing users and present the opportunity for questions
and discussions.

5EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES

Participants will understand:- What PREMIS is and why it exists;- How PREMIS has changed across versions;- The benefits of implementing PREMIS;- The nature of the existing PREMIS community;- The critical role PREMIS plays in the digitalpreservation community.

In addition, participants will get insight into:- How PREMIS may be used in conjunction with METS;- How different organisations implement PREMIS within
their own repositories;- The nature of conformance with PREMIS.

5SHORT BIOGRAPHIES OFORGANIZERSKarin Bredenberg is a technical advisor on metadata at theSwedish National Archives. She graduated in Computer
Engineering (programming C#), with a Bachelor of Science at theRoyal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm 2006.
Bredenberg works with Swedish adaptations of international
metadata standards and is responsible for the common
specifications regarding e-archiving and e-records management
maintained by the Swedish National Archives. She currently
serves as co-chair of the Society of American Archivists
Technical Subcommittee on Encoded Archival Standards (TSEAS), chair of the newly created DLM Forum Archival Standards
Board (DAS Board) as well as a member of the PREMIS EditorialCommittee and as a member of the METS Board. During 20112014 she served as the work package lead regarding metadata
exchange formats specifications in the Swedish project eARD.
The project part on exchange format specifications received theSwedish e-Diamond Award 2014. 2009-2014 Bredenberg was partof the European APEX (http://www.archivesportaleurope.net/ )as a standards specialist and 2014-2017 part of the European
project E-ARK (http://www.eark-project.com/) working onInformation Packages and use of metadata standards.
Angela Dappert Dr Angela Dappert is Project Manager for theEU-funded THOR project (project-thor.eu). She has widely
researched and published on digital repositories andpreservation; consulted for archives and libraries on digital life
cycle management and policies; led and conducted research in
the EU-co-funded Planets, Scape, TIMBUS, and E-ARK projects;
and applied digital preservation practice at the British Librarythrough work on digital repository implementation, digital
metadata standards, digital asset registration, digital asset ingest,
preservation risk assessment, planning and characterization, anddata carrier stabilization. She has applied work towards
preservation of research data and processes, softwareenvironments and eJournals, with an emphasis oninteroperability and standardisation. Angela holds a Ph.D. inDigital Preservation, an M.Sc. in Medical Informatics and anM.Sc. in Computer Sciences. She serves on the PREMIS EditorialCommittee and a number of advisory bodies.
Eld Zierau is member of the PREMIS Editorial Committee, since2013. She is a digital preservation researcher and specialist, witha PhD from 2011 within digital preservation. Originally, she is acomputer scientist, and has worked with almost all aspects of IT
in private industries for 18 years, before starting in digitalpreservation in 2007. She has been working with many aspects
of digital preservation, and she is involved as an architect or aconsultant on major initiatives such a new digital repository
including data modelling of metadata for preservation.

REFERENCES
[1]

[2]
[3]

PREMIS Editorial Committee. 2016. PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preservation
Metadata, located at http://www.loc.gov/standards/premis/v3/premis-3-0final.pdf, Web archived: archive.org,, archive time: 2017-02-10 06:23:29 UTC
archived URL: http://www.loc.gov/standards/premis/v3/premis-3-0-final.pdf.
PREMIS website. 2017. Located athttp://www.loc.gov/standards/premis/index.html
METS website. 2017. Located at
http://www.loc.gov/standards/mets/index.html