DALLAS PUBLIC LIBRARY

"

ire Digital System-RU

GP 1.2:D 56/SUM.

The Future Digital

SystemA world class

system for managing

official Government

content, which will

verify and track

versions, assure

authenticity, preserve

content, and provide

permanent access.
SETTING THE STAGE

A Concept of Operations (ConOps) document was created as a guideline for developing the Future Digital System.

A ConOps document is the IEEE standard for describing the high level user requirements of a software-intensive

system. This document concentrates on WHAT the system capabilities and requirements are, not HOW the

system will be implemented. Based on the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) model, the Future Digital

System will be a rules based, policy driven system capable of being configured to meet the needs of users.

The ConOps is a reference model driven approach containing functional as well as user models. The ConOps

document is currently in the review stage and will be available to the public at a future date.

Background

The Future Digital System will be a world class information life cycle management system that will transform

GPO into a leadership content management agency. The Future Digital System will be system and policy neutral

such that it can support changes resulting from technology, policy, or customer needs. The system will be

modular and adaptable.

Digital Content

• Converted Content

• Harvested Content

• Deposited Content

Ingest

Content Management

• Authentication

• Version Control

• Access

• Preservation

• Content Processing

Queries

Content Delivery

• Hard Copy

• Electronic Presentation

• Digital Media

• Reporting

Results

System Administration

CRITICAL FUNCTIONS

• Version Control.* Relating to a specific issuance, edition, or revision of a document or publication.

Version control within the Future Digital system will be the process of establishing the version of the content.

Once the version has been established, the Future Digital System will evaluate and track it throughout its entire

life cycle based on GPO established best practices.

The chain of responsibility will be reflected in the version information (ie., who created it, when, etc.)

• Authentication; Validation of a user, a computer, or some digital object to ensure that it is what it claims to

be. In the specific context of the Future Digital System, the assurance that an object is as the author or issuer

intended it.

The Authentication function will verify that digital content within the Future Digital System is authentic or

official, and certify this to users accessing the content as needed. When a digital publication is received by GPO,

the Future Digital System must have the capability to verify the authenticity of the content and determine its

status as official content.

The Future Digital System will have the capability to provide users who access content with a token (or digital

certificate) containing a visual representation that the content is certified to be official or authentic. The Future

Digital System will also provide a means by which sections or small pieces of a document could be digitally

certified. This concept is otherwise known as granularity.

• Preservation; Maintaining information products over time for use in their original form or in some other

verifiable, usable form.

GPO’s users expect us to provide permanent public access to official U.S. Government publications. GPO’s

responsibility for this is mandated by law. Preservation storage for current and permanent access are key

elements of the Future Digital System:

The active storage component, or access archive, includes files used to deliver content to users.

Preservation archival storage, the Collection of Last Resort (CLR), is a permanent collection of the final

published, official version(s) of U.S. Government publications in all formats intended to provide

comprehensive, timely, permanent public access.

The CLR will consist of multiple collections of tangible and digital publications with identical content located at

geographically-separated sites. This redundancy ensures continuity of access and guaranteed permanence in

the event of a d master or significant discontinuation of service at a single site. Creation of the CLR will follow

best practices >n the preservation community. The exact number of sites is yet to be determined. There is no

direct public access or use of content in the Collection of Last Resort. Only when all other avenues of access are

exhausted does the official content in the CLR come into use. Then access copies, called derivatives, are produced

to support public access.
• Access; The primary interface between End Users and the the Future Digital System.

The 5 major components of Access include Finding, Ordering, Retrieval, User Support, and Data Mining.

Finding is comprised of three tools that interact seamlessly to create a total user experience:

Search Tools perform queries on content and metadata.

Reference Tools are lists and resources that point to content.

National Bibliography (or Cataloging) Tools add descriptive metadata to content in the form of library

standard bibliographic records.

Ordering provides the capability for users to place orders and submit payment electronically.

Retrieval Tools provide retrieval instructions so that content may be retrieved from storage and ultimately

delivered to End Users.

User Support Tools assist in delivering services to End Users. User Support tools may include alert services, CRM

tools, knowledge bases, and stored user preferences.

Data Mining Tools find, aggregate, and associate business process information. This type of information may

include document retrievals and agency billing information.

CONTENT

Digital Standards

Standards are the means for our participation in the communities we serve, making information available and

usable. The Future Digital System will be driven by GPO developed best practices that support Government

publishing. This includes the creation of:

• Metadata: Data that describes the content, quality, condition, or other characteristics of other data.

Metadata describes how, when, and by whom information was collected, where it resides, and how it is formatted.

Metadata helps locate, interpret, and manage content throughout its lifecycle in the Future Digital System.

Virtually every function within the Future Digital System will require, and often create, information describing the

context, quality, condition, use, or nature of content, users, or processes. The system will require tools to create,

interpret, and share this metadata between and among a wide variety of existing frameworks and standards

already deployed in the various communities of use and practice whom we serve.

• Preservation Digital Master: A faithful, high quality version of content which is created in a controlled

environment, bound together with information which supports long-term preservation.

We will, with awareness of and leadership in the developing best practice for digital preservation, define

specification for a uniform package of digital information to serve as a Preservation Digital Master. It will capture,

at the highest possible quality, digital content intended for preservation in the Future Digital System, together

with rich metadata, which will support preservation processes over the long term. The goal of that preservation

is a contextually meaningful, fully functional, and complete rendering of the content which can be certified as

official and faithful to the original issue, regardless of obsolescences and other shifts in technology.

• Style Tools: Tools that help customers create and provide content to the Future Digital System.

Style tools will allow GPO to move further upstream in the publishing process - towards content creators - which

may allow us to fully capture content. Style Tools are designed to validate to the proposed new GPO Style Manual.

The Future Digital System will contain 3 possible style tools:

A Validator assures that content is acceptable for the Future Digital System (based on GPO best practices)

Conversion tools that convert content in structured or proprietary formats (e.g., Quark) to a package that

is accepted by the Future Digital System

Auto-Composition tools that provide a comprehensive range of services to agencies (Auto Composition,

Collaboration, etc.)

Digital Content

The focus of the Future Digital System will be on bom digital content. The Future Digital System will also support

converted legacy content and harvested material.

• Deposited Content: Electronic content that is pushed to the Future Digital System by originating agencies for

preservation and access.

Based on the ease ofsystem usage and providing Style Tools, it will streamline the process for customers using

the Future Digital System. Deposited Content will be consistent with the digital standards for the system. The

system will not be limited to the formats that exist today.
• Harvested Content: Electronic documents that are first published directly to agency Web sites and then pulled

into the the Future Digital System in a way that is consistent with digital standards.

It will be necessary for the Future Digital System to use a suite of tools to discover, harvest, and assess content.

Discovery Tools will be used to discover electronic documents that are in scope.

Harvesting Tools will systematically capture content and available metadata.

Assessment Tools will be used to determine if a document is in scope and if a version of that document

already exists in the system.

If the document is in scope and not already in the Future Digital System, it will be ingested into the system.

• Converted Content: Electronic files created from tangible documents which can then be preserved and derived

into new digital products.

GPO will work with various user communities (including the library community) on digitizing the collection of

legacy documents held in Federal depository libraries. This collection will be made available in the public domain

for permanent public access through GPO’s dissemination programs.

Conversion must be performed at a level that is adequate to support preservation as well as public access.

As a result, converted files must be compatible with standards and best practices for conversion and digital

preservation masters.

CONTENT MANAGEMENT

The Future Digital System’s working layer that controls and manages content.

CONTENT DELIVERY

The Future Digital System will deliver content to meet user needs and in conformance with GPO developed best

practices. This includes, but is not limited to the following delivery methods:

• Hard Copy is tangible printed content. Print on Demand is hard copy produced in a short production cycle time

and typically in small quantities.

• Electronic Presentation is defined as a delivery mechanism of the dynamic and temporary representation of

content in digital format.

• Digital Media is a content delivery mechanism consisting of data storage devices. Digital media includes:

Data storage devices

Wireless handheld devices

Future media (e.g., flexible electronic displays, etc.)

Storage at user sites (e.g. subscription services, etc.)

As electronic presentation becomes the primary method of disseminating Government publications, the goal will

shift away from making the digital format match the printed product and will instead focus on presenting the

electronic content in the most useable format.

Regardless of format, the primary goal of delivery is to meet the requirements of users. The Future Digital System

will provide capabilities based on those requirements. Tools will allow users to customize, compile, and proof

content before delivery.