Preserving data in e-government
Preserving Government's Digital Information and Data in the Era of E-government: A Global Survey
Created by: Eleanor Gleason
Definition of Project
Countries across the world are recognizing the value of enduring access to governmental records especially through digital means. While by no means easy, digital preservation programs are essential to addressing the goals of open access to printed and digital materials documenting government actions. The resources included in this annotated bibliography provide an array of perspectives of the importance of more open and transparent access to government records in digital formats, as well as how digital preservation should be implemented to meet this goal. Institutions and governments around the world have implemented standards, legislative acts, individual technologies, and organizational methodologies in order to meet the goals of open governement. Many believe that open government initiatives will improve the relationship between governments and their citizens, the services those governments provide and the future of access to digital records as a whole. The sources included in this list discuss the different methods currently used in e-government preservation efforts as well as the challenges and shortcomings that need to be addressed to preserve evidence of digital government. By including case studies from around the world, this list provides a comprehensive look at the state of digital preservation of government data in a variety of settings.
Annotations
Adu, K.K., Dube, L., & Adjei, E. (2016). Digital preservation: the conduit through which open data, electronic government and the right to information are implemented. Library Hi Tech, 34 (4), 733-747.
Adu, Dube, and Adjei argue in this article that mutually beneficial relationships are established between right to information legistlation, open government initiatives and digital preservation of government data. By examining previous literature on the subject, as well as legislative efforts and open data portals created in Canada and the United Kingdom, this article utilizes survey data in Ghana to highlight the importance of digital preservation in providing access to government data. Survey data was gathered from information communication technology professionals across 24 government ministries and 132 public agencies in Ghana. These survey responses help to compare current electronic records management practices in Ghanaian organizations with established digital preservation laws with those that could benefit from such infrastructure and legal support. By establishing current trends in the relationships between legislation, open data initiatives and digital preservation this article illuminates how the goals of e-government and digital preservation can be strengthened in tandem with one another.
Adu, K.K., Ngulube, P. (2016). Preserving the digital heritage of public institutions in Ghana in the wake of electronic government. Library Hi Tech, 34 (4), 748-763.
This article discusses the digital preservation strategies taking place across government organizations in Ghana. Adu and Ngulube explain that digital preservation of government records falls into a larger political and economic goal for Ghana to improve public service infrastructure and social services outcomes. The article outlines digital preservation guidelines for e-government complied from the body of scholarship on the topic. These guidelines include but are not limited to, trustworthy repositories, migration, emulation, cloud computing, and linked open data. They then use these established digital preservation practices to inform the content of their research survey in Ghana. Other research questions addressed the frequency, dpeth, and knowledge of digital preservation tasks at various organizations as well as familiarity of the work of other repositories in this capacity. This article provides insight into why repositories adopt or do not adopt certain digital preservation strategies. These research findings conclude that the level of adoption of preservation strategies depend on resource, skill, and knowledge barriers for entry. Activities such as data backup, migration and metadata input were more widely used and familiar while more complex activities such as emulation, data refreshing and cloud computing were mostly unknown to respondents.
Brett, J. (2002). A case study of the web-site appraisal process as applied to state government agency web sites in Wisconsin. Archival Issues, 27 (2), 99-110.
Brett tackles the issues of digital preservation of e-government through the lens of preserving the entire e-government apparatus: the website. This article focuses on the Wisconsin Historical Societies' archival appraisal and preservation process of commission records contained only on a website. This unique instance of governmental records bypassing a physical record stage entirely and being inputted directly into a website provides an excellent study in the range of digital preservation challenges. The historical socieites' sources of guidance and advice in this endeavour included the National Archives of Australia, the World Wide Web Consortium, and The Nebraska Secretary of State's Office. This highlights the collaborative, experimental, and ever-evolving work of digital preservation.
Cunningham, A., Phillips, M. (2005). Accountability and accessibility: ensuring the evidence of e-governance in Australia. Aslib Proceedings, 57 (4), 301-317.
Cunningham describes how the Australian government is addressing the issues associated with capturing and preserving their records and data. The article highlights the importance of preserving evidence of government activities in order to maintain a healthy relationship between the government and its citizens. Valuable insights include Cunningham's comparison of the Australian government to other nations in regards to legislative support. "Governments of other Western nations have been more enlightened than the Australian Government in seeing the necessity of legislative support for the national library in collecting online publications and web sites" (p. 306). The article also addresses the financial and governmental factors that influence the decisions involved in creating a digital preservation program. Cunningham stresses the multi-dimensional approach necessary to maintain e-government records and their impact on the overall health of public services.
Dećman, M., Vitar, M. (2013) A possible solution for digital preservation of e-government: a centralized repository within a cloud computing framework. Aslib Proceedings, 65 (4), 406-424.
This article proposes a framework for institutions in the public administration sector to digitally preserve electronic data. Referencing previous scholarship, Dećman and Vintar identify unique preservation challenges for electronic documents and records, which include but are not limited to obsolescence, deterioration, data growth and data complexity. This article seeks to address not just institution specific examples and solutions but instead a centralized cloud computing approach that achieves digital preservation goals into perpetuity and provides short-term benefits as well. Dećman and Vitar uniquely identify long and short-term digital preservation by differences in actions taken, information concepts utilized, and user communities utilizing the data, rather than simply differentiating by time passed since initial data creation. Building on established methods and models of digital preservation at physical, logical and conceptual levels, this article suggests that a central virtual repository created through cloud computing would uniquely suit the digital preservation needs of public administrations and their various departments.
Dećman, M. (2010). Long-term digital preservation in e-government- a case of Slovenia. Organizacija, 43, 66-74.
In this article, Dećman describes the current situation of digital preservation efforts in regards to government data and e-government functionalities. Using Slovenia as a case study, Dećman highlights how the intended results of successful digital preservation such as data longevity, integrity, and accessibility are necessary for e-government activities. Slovenia provides a unique and instructive example of how establishing pre-emptive standardization and regulation in legislation can set a foundation for digital preservation of electronic government records and data.
Dorner, D.G. (2009). Public sector readiness for digital preservation in New Zealand: the rate of adoption of an innovation in records management practices. Government Information Quarterly, 26, 341-348.
Dorner's article examines the top down approach to digital preservation of governmental information taken by the government of New Zealand. Various legislative acts created mandates for New Zealand's government documents to be available electronically for the public into the foreseeable future. Dorner's research survey provides valuable insight into environmental monitoring of information professionals prior to implementation of digital preservation strategies on a national scale. By gauging institutional awareness, preparedness, and current practices in digital preservation at various public sector organizations, Dorner is able to identify a wide array of hardware, software, and infrastructural elements used across the board. This article also produces interesting results as to the awareness of legislative impacts on a governmental institution's records management activities.
Latham, B. (2018). Digital government information: the challenges of collaborative preservation. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 44, 674-676.
In this article, Latham discusses the history of the U.S. Government Publishing Office and its ongoing duty to provide, "free, unimpeded, perpetual public access to the information produced by the U.S. Federal Government" (p. 674). The article emphasizes the GPO's self-propelled initiatives to be certified as a Trusted Digital Repository (meeting certain digital preservation practice qualifications) separately from the many other federal agencies. The story of the digital preservation efforts at the U.S. GPO illustrates the immense challenges in uniting repositories with different financial resources, administrative infrastructures, and agendas. This article highlights the difficulties in trying to organize digital preservation initiatives across an entire country.
Lee, K.R., Lee, K. (2009). The Korean government's electronic record management reform: the promise and perils of digital democratization. Government Information Quarterly, 26, 525-535.
This article examines the reform in the Korean government's archival and records management practices through the E-jiwon management system and its impact on the goals of increased accessibility. Lee and Lee describe the previous environment of distrust between Korean regimes of the past and the citizenry, especially in regards to public access to governmental records. Their research delineates the concrete legislative, technical, and systemic steps taken to implement the E-jiwon system as well as its positive and negative aspects in regards to data longevity and standardization. Lee and Lee go into great detail of various metadata elements, schemas, and file structure changes to this system that would better serve digital preservation. This article connects specific technical advice with larger governmental and societal shifts in the overarching topic of digital preservation and e-government. Lastly, this provides a unique case study examining the impact of a central content management system on the larger goals of increased governmental transparency in previously authoritarian governments.
Ngulube, P. (2012). Ghosts in our machines: preserving public digital information for the sustenance of electronic government in sub-Saharan Africa. Mousaion, 30 (2), 128-136.
Ngulube provides a situational overview of Sub-Saharan governments, national libraries, and archives' ability to preserve future access to the digital information housed on e-government online platforms in the region. The article identifies and acknowledges major shortcomings in the inclusion of metadata pertinent to proper record appraisal and disposal as well as overarching initiatives that need to be taken in institutions in order to address these shortcomings. Ngulube provides insight into the pitfalls of implementation of e-government technologies without weighing the archival implications of future use of the data. Lack of standardization, legislation, infrastructure, and awareness among relevant entities are just a few of the factors that Ngulube identifies as hindering the preservation of electronic government data in Sub-Saharan Africa. By addressing institutional and collaborative weaknesses, this article highlights the importance of widespread and overarching teamwork among all national institutions in regards to digital preservation.
