Literature Review  ::  Born-Digital Literary Archives  ::  Ben Goldman

by Ben Goldman

Literature Review

As Matthew Kirschenbaum pointed out in an article for The Chronicle of Higher Education, "nearly all [modern] literature is born digital in the sense that at some point in its composition … the text is entered with a word processor, saved on a hard drive, and takes its place as part of a computer operating system"ⁱ. Archives and special collections departments of libraries are beginning to work with the artifacts of the authoring process described by Kirschenbaum, as more authors begin to donate, as part of their literary papers, the computers and storage devices used to produce and store texts. Libraries have over the decades developed sound processes for preserving the material artifacts of print culture, but preservation of born-digital works requires new skills and processes. Many of these processes—redundancy, emulation, migration—have been developed and subsequently described in the corpus on digital preservation, and may be of use to libraries working with born-digital works. There is an increasing emphasis, however, being placed on building preservation processes into the acts of authorship, and into the tools used for creating works. This, as one researcher has noted, moves responsibility for durable texts from the archive to the author”ⁱⁱ.

Examples of born-digital archives abound. The Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, in announcing the receipt of an NEH grant to investigate “approaches to managing and collecting born-digital literary materials for scholarly use,” identified the Salman Rushdie Papers at Emory University, the Michael Joyce Papers at University of Texas's Harry Ransom Center, and the Deena Larsen Collection at the University of Marylandⁱⁱⁱ. A Society of American Archivists Conference session focused on the born-digital archives of Norman Mailer at the Harry Ransom Center, Peter Ganick at the University of Connecticut, and George Whitmore at Yale University^iv.

Approaches to managing these collections are still developing. As two of the first institutions to deal with this issue on a large scale, University of Texas and Emory University have focused on preserving and making accessible the digital manuscripts at the expense of context and form^v, sacrificing the ability to view the material in its native state, an approach known as migration. University of Texas's first activities with the Michael Joyce Papers drew heavily on the Open Archival Information System model framework^vi.

Migration as a preservation strategy is an approach that has serious implication on future scholarship. Kirschenbaum discussed his experience accessing the papers of hypertext fiction writer Michael Joyce at the Harry Ransom Center, where his interaction with the files was limited. Migration is a less complex strategy for providing access, but potentially endangers the ancillary literary evidence associated with all authors^vii.

Emulation as a preservation strategy can be a drain on human and financial resources ^viii. The Salman Rushdie computers at Emory University contained over 40,000 files (18Gb). The literature on approaches to born-digital literary collections so far has taken a tentative view of the feasibility of emulation strategies. But this problem may ultimately be solved by advancements in the technology, such as the open source emulator project Dioscuri, which aims to virtualize hardware configurations and make them playable on any computer that can run a Java Virtual Machine^ix.

Increasingly, however, there is a belief that archiving needs to become more integrated with authorial activities. Gladney argues that the tools for effective preservation already exist, but that we need a different approach, one that considers the lifecycle of the work itself, focuses on the need for built-in durability, and draws heavily from the field of software development^x. Kirschenbaum makes a similar point in the Chronicle article^xi; he is also a member of the Electronic Literature Organization (ELO) which is actively developing tools and standards to assist writers of electronic literature in making their works more durable. The ELO has proposed the creation of an open source emulation software, and the development of an XML-based metadata schema for electronic literature works^xii. Almost incidentally, they also recommend redundancy as a preservation strategy^xiii, one that has seen rampant evangelization in the library field with the LOCKSS program^xiv.

This final point about built-in durability and the responsibility of authors is hammered home by Rachel Donadio's article on the use of digital writing and communications tools by today's leading authors^xv. Many are unfamiliar with digital archiving strategies, and instead opt for printing as a preservation strategy^xvi. Perhaps, as one archivist working with born-digital manuscripts has proposed, the time has come for authors to work with an embedded archivist to ensure the long-term preservation of their digital work^xvii.

Endnotes

i. Matthew Kirschenbaum, “Hamlet.doc,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 17, 2007, B8.

ii. H.M. Gladney, "Durable Digital Objects Rather Than Digital Preservation," 2008, http://eprints.erpanet.org/146/01/Durable.pdf.

iii. Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, "Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, Emory’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, and the Harry Ransom Center Partner on Strategies for Born-Digital Literary Collections," March 6, 2008, http://mith.umd.edu/news/maryland-institute-for-technology-in-the-humanities-emorys-manuscript-archives-and-rare-book-library-and-the-harry-ransom-center-partner-on-strategies-for-born-digital-literary-collections.

iv. Jeanne Kramer-Smyth, "SAA2008: Preservation and Experimentation with Analog/Digital Hybrid Literary Collections (Session 203)," September 6, 2008, http://www.spellboundblog.com/2008/09/06/saa2008-preservation-and-experimentation-with-analogdigital-hybrid-literary-collections-session-203/.

v. Erika Farr, "Rushdie's Born Digital Archive: Updates and Prospects," PowerPoint Presentation.

vi. Thomas Kiehne, Vivian Spoliansky, & Catherine Stollar, "From Floppies to Repository: A Transition of Bits. A Case Study in Preserving the Michael Joyce Digital Papers at the Harry Ransom Center," May 2005, http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:m_8D9cKs7z4J:https://pacer.ischool.utexas.edu/bitstream/2081/941/1/Joyce_project-paper-final-draft.doc+from+floppies+to+repository&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a.

vii. Matthew Kirschenbaum, “Hamlet.doc,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 17, 2007, B8.

viii. Erika Farr, "Rushdie's Born Digital Archive: Updates and Prospects," PowerPoint Presentation.

ix. Jeanne Kramer-Smyth, "Digital Preservation via Emulation – Dioscuri and the Prevention of Digital Black Holes," December 25, 2007, http://www.spellboundblog.com/2007/12/25/digital-preservation-via-emulation-dioscuri-and-the-prevention-of-digital-black-holes/.

x. H.M. Gladney, "Durable Digital Objects Rather Than Digital Preservation," 2008, http://eprints.erpanet.org/146/01/Durable.pdf.

xi. Matthew Kirschenbaum, "Hamlet.doc," The Chronicle of Higher Education, August 17, 2007, B8.

xii. Alan Liu, David Durand, et al., "Born-Again Bits. A Framework for Migrating Electronic Literature," The Electronic Literature Organization, August 5, 2005, http://eliterature.org/pad/bab.html.

xiii. Ibid.

xiv. Vicki Reich & David S. H. Rosenthal, "LOCKSS: A Permanent Web Publishing and Access System," D-Lib Magazine, June 2001, http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june01/reich/06reich.html.

xv. Rachel Donadio, "Literary Letters, Lost in Cyberspace," The New York Times, September 5, 2005, http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/books/review/04DONADIO.html.

xvi. Ibid.

xvii. Jeanne Kramer-Smyth, "SAA2008: Preservation and Experimentation with Analog/Digital Hybrid Literary Collections (Session 203)," September 6, 2008, http://www.spellboundblog.com/2008/09/06/saa2008-preservation-and-experimentation-with-analogdigital-hybrid-literary-collections-session-203/.

(Semi-)Annotated Bibliography

Donadio, Rachel. “Literary Letters, Lost in Cyberspace.” The New York Times. September 5, 2005. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/04/books/review/04DONADIO.html.

Farr, Erika. “Rushdie’s Born Digital Archive: Updates and Prospects.” PowerPoint Presentation.

Erika Farr, Associate Director for the Institute of Digital Scholarship at Emory University presents Emory's experience managing Salman Rushdie's computers, donated as part of his personal papers. She also discusses the larger implications of digital curation and the prospects for researchers using these materials.

Gladney, H.M. "Durable Digital Objects Rather Than Digital Preservation." 2008. http://eprints.erpanet.org/146/01/Durable.pdf (accessed October 20, 2008).

Using as his premise the idea that preservation is only required for objects in which durability has not been built in, the author makes his case for a different approach to digital preservation. He argues that many of the tools needed to adequately preserve digital documents are already in place, and that the focus of the digital preservation field on libraries and archives is a misguided approach, since the data to be preserved comes to these institutions long after creation.

Kiehne, Thomas, Spoliansky, Vivian & Stollar, Catherine. "From Floppies to Repository: A Transition of Bits. A Case Study in Preserving the Michael Joyce Digital Papers at the Harry Ransom Center." May 2005. http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:m_8D9cKs7z4J:https://pacer.ischool.utexas.edu/bitstream/2081/941/1/Joyce_project-paper-final-draft.doc+from+floppies+to+repository&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a (accessed October 18, 2008).

The authors describe the process of “preparing, arranging, describing and ingesting” the digital files of the Michael Joyce Papers, which came to them on almost 400 floppy discs. The authors discuss their choice of migration as a preservation strategy and describe the resulting “medium level of service” that emphasizes the content at the expense of capturing the form. Migration is the most common digital preservation strategy, but creates significant obstacles for future scholars.

Kirschenbaum, Matthew. "Hamlet.doc." The Chronicle of Higher Education. 17 August 2007: B8.

Kirschenbaum discusses the challenges of managing and preserving born-digital literary material, juxtaposing current practices in the creation of literature with the past. He also discusses the many ways researchers use this material in their scholarship. He concludes by offering some ideas for approaching the preservation of born-digital scholarly materials, including the building of tools and processes for creators of cultural works.

Kirschenbaum, Matthew. Mechanisms: New Media and the Forensic Imagination. MIT Press: London, 2008.

Kirschenbaum's book attempts to reconcile the paper-rich tradition of textual studies with the growing field of new media. He presents approaches for researching texts created and stored using computers. Of particular interest is Chapter 4, Kirschenbaum's tracking of the many versions of a famous electronic text by Michael Joyce, and his experience using the electronic files that make up the Michael Joyce Papers at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin, Texas.

Kramer-Smyth, Jeanne. "Digital Preservation via Emulation – Dioscuri and the Prevention of Digital Black Holes". December 25, 2007. http://www.spellboundblog.com/2007/12/25/digital-preservation-via-emulation-dioscuri-and-the-prevention-of-digital-black-holes/ (accessed October 19, 2008).

Kramer-Smyth, Jeanne. "SAA2008: Preservation and Experimentation with Analog/Digital Hybrid Literary Collections (Session 203)." September 6, 2008. http://www.spellboundblog.com/2008/09/06/saa2008-preservation-and-experimentation-with-analogdigital-hybrid-literary-collections-session-203/ (accessed October 19, 2008).

Lavoie, Brian F. "The Open Archival Information System Reference Model: Introductory Guide." Digital Preservation Coalition. January 2004. http://www.dpconline.org/docs/lavoie_OAIS.pdf (accessed October 20, 2008).

Many digital preservation solutions build upon the Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS, ISO 14721) framework, which provides a high level overview of the concepts, terms, and processes needed to support long-term digital preservation. This paper introduces and examines the OAIS framework.

Liu, Alan, Durand, David, et al. "Born-Again Bits. A Framework for Migrating Electronic Literature." The Electronic Literature Organization. August 5, 2005. http://eliterature.org/pad/bab.html (accessed October 10, 2008).

This paper presents strategies for preserving e-literature. The emphasis of the article is a discussion of the X-Literature Initiative (X-Lit), a set of standards and application that together will describe works of e-literature. X-Lit used eXtensible Markup Language (XML) for the descriptive activities proposed. The article also explores other post-creation preservation possibilities such as migration and emulation, and proposes the creation of an open source emulator.

Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities. “Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, Emory’s Manuscript, Archives, and Rare Book Library, and the Harry Ransom Center Partner on Strategies for Born-Digital Literary Collections.” March 6, 2008. http://mith.umd.edu/news/maryland-institute-for-technology-in-the-humanities-emorys-manuscript-archives-and-rare-book-library-and-the-harry-ransom-center-partner-on-strategies-for-born-digital-literary-collections (accessed October 20, 2008).

Montfort, Nick & Wardrip-Fruin, Noah. "Acid-Free Bits. Recommendations for Long-Lasting Electronic Literature." The Electronic Literature Organization. June 14, 2004. http://eliterature.org/pad/afb.html (accessed October 10, 2008).

The authors, writing for the Electronic Literature Organization, present a set of best practices for authors who wish to actively contribute to the longevity of their digital works. While written specifically for the loose genre of e-literature, the principles can easily be extended to any act of digital authorship. Recommendations include preferring open source software and cross-platform technologies, using conformant code, commenting code, and documenting the authorial activity.

Paradigm. Workbook on Digital Private Papers. http://www.paradigm.ac.uk/workbook/index.html (accessed October 19, 2008).

Paradigm is a project led by the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester to “explore the issues involved in preserving digital private papers.” The Workbook on Digital Private Papers is a set of best practices, including a number of digital preservation strategies and recommendations. The Workbook focuses on such topics as: degree of preservation, file formats, migration and emulation strategies, tips for preserving personal documents, and a list of useful resources. The Workbook discusses other issues that contribute to the digital preservation process, including: working with records creators, metadata, arranging hybrid (analog and digital together) archives, and software.

Reich, Vicki & Rosenthal, David S. H. LOCKSS: A Permanent Web Publishing and Access System. D-Lib Magazine. June 2001. http://www.dlib.org/dlib/june01/reich/06reich.html (accessed October 19, 2008).

This article introduces LOCKSS, a system for preservation based on redundancy. Originally, LOCKSS was used to preserved web-based scholarly journals, but has subsequently been modified in different settings to create multiple copies of various types of electronic data. LOCKSS stands for “Lots Of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe, and is modeled, loosely, on the history of analog publishing, and the idea that much of the past literature has survived so long because so many copies were made.

Schmidt, Lisa. "Preservation of a Born Digital Literary Genre: Archiving Legacy Macintosh Hypertext Files in Dspace." August 22, 2007. http://64.233.169.104/search?q=cache:QBR9zs1jiQkJ:https://pacer.ischool.utexas.edu/dspace/bitstream/2081/9007/1/MJ%2520WBO%2520Capstone%2520Report.pdf+archives+accession+born-digital&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=6&gl=us&client=firefox-a (accessed October 19, 2008).