Task Force on Technical Approaches to Email Archives: Update and Consultation

The Task Force on Technical Approaches to Email, formed in September 2016 and sponsored by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Digital Preservation coalition, is charged with (a) reexamining and assess current efforts to preserve email; (b) articulating a conceptual and technical framework in which these efforts can operate not as competing solutions, but as elements of an interoperable toolkit to be applied as needed; and (c) constructing a working agenda for the community to construct this technical framework, adjusting existing tools to work within this framework, and begin to fill in missing elements. The task force will prepare a report of its findings with recommendations for the specific actions that those interested in email archiving could take to demonstrate within 2-5 years that archives can safely accession and preserve records of human expression in the form of email.

Task Force co-chairs Chris Prom and Kate Murray will report on the Task Force’s work to date and will solicit feedback and input from the Museum community and Museum Archivists. This input is critical in helping the Task Force members to shape the final report and recommendations, which will be issued in late 2017.

Bibliography:
Cocciolo, Anthony. “Email as Cultural Heritage Resource.” Accessed October 10, 2016. http://www.thinkingprojects.org/Email_as_Cultural_Heritage_Resource_forweb.pdf.

Harvard University Library. “Email Archiving Stewardship Workshop | Harvard Library.” Accessed January 19, 2017. http://library.harvard.edu/03092016-1642/email-archiving-stewardship-workshop.

Owens, Trevor. “The ePADD Team on Processing and Accessing Email Archives | The Signal.” Webpage, October 20, 2014. http://blogs.loc.gov/thesignal/2014/10/the-epadd-team-on-processing-and-accessing-email-archives/

Prom, Christopher J. “Preserving Email - DPC Technology Watch Report 11-01.” Digital Preservation Coalition, December 1, 2011. http://www.dpconline.org/component/docman/doc_download/739-dpctw11-01pdf.

Redwine, Barnard, Donovan, et. al. “Born Digital: Guidance for Donors, Dealers, and Archival Repositories,” October 2013. https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub159/pub159.pdf.

Schmidt, Lisa. “Preserving the H-Net Email Lists: A Case Study in Trusted Digital Repository Assessment.” The American Archivist 74, no. 1 (April 1, 2011): 257–96. http://doi.org/10.17723/aarc.74.1.u2jw67r7257wqw66.