About Digital Preservation Policies at ICPSR

ICPSR has developed a digital preservation policy framework that is high-level, comprehensive, and sets the scope and general direction for digital preservation at ICPSR. The framework contains references to high-level policies for other areas (e.g., collection development, access), to lower-level policies for digital preservation topics (e.g., digital preservation roles and responsibilities, archival storage), and to related procedural documents. ICPSR will revise the framework every other year to revise and re-approve as needed.

The ICPSR Digital Preservation Plan is a companion document to the framework that lays out the specific path for ICPSR in digital preservation for the next three years, identifies digital preservation priorities and defines the objectives outcome for each priority. ICPSR will evaluate and revise the plan annually.

Lower-level policies and procedures specifically define the 'what' and 'how' of digital preservation at ICPSR. ICPSR develops and revises these documents regularly, as preservation requirements and relevant technology evolves.

The policy development process at ICPSR includes a review of policies in related areas to ensure that digital preservation requirements are incorporated; a continual review of the developments of standards and guidelines at the community level; and a search for exemplars of policy developments at peer and other organizations. This process builds on work that was done in the development of the Digital Preservation Management (DPM) workshop curriculum at Cornell University Library. The Digital Preservation Officer (DPO) at ICPSR, Nancy Y. McGovern, was the DPO at Cornell, 2001-2006, and the co-developer with Anne R. Kenney of the DPM curriculum.

A word on terminology

"The word 'policy' is not a tightly defined concept but a highly flexible one, used in different ways on different occasions." (source) The terms policy, plan, and procedure are used in varying ways within the digital preservation community and beyond, depending on the organizational context. The following definitions reflect the digital preservation policy development process at ICPSR.

Policy: "A set of decisions which are oriented towards a long-term purpose or to a particular problem" [1]; "Prudence or wisdom in the management of affairs" [2]; "A high-level overall plan embracing the general goals and acceptable procedures..." [2]

Plan: "A scheme, program, or method worked out beforehand for the accomplishment of an objective..." [3]; "A proposed or tentative project or course of action..." [3]; "A program or policy stipulating a service or benefit..." [3]; "Organized sequence of predetermined actions management has chosen to complete future organizational objectives." [4]

Procedure: "A manner of proceeding; a way of performing or effecting something..." [5]; "A series of steps taken to accomplish an end..." [5]; "A set of established forms or methods for conducting the affairs of an organized body..." [5]

Sources

[1] "Definition of policy." FAO Corporate Document Repository, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

[2] "Policy." Merriam-Webster Online.

[3] "Plan." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Answers.com 06 Sep. 2007.

[4] "Plan." Dictionary of Business Terms. Barron's Educational Series, Inc, 2000. Answers.com 06 Sep. 2007.