General studies are the investigations carried out by each research unit within its scope for the purpose of achieving its objectives, but not related to specific cases.

FOCUS 1

GS03 - Preserving Interactive Digital Music: The MUSTICA Initiative
The study team seeks to develop a typology of interactive digital music compositions. This typology will support discussion and analysis of the preservation needs of interactive, digital compositions by identifying the intellectual and physical components of the records of a variety of digital, interactive musical works created by composers at the Institute de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique / Musique (IRCAM) and Groupe de Recherches Musicales (GRM) of Institut National de l’Audiovisuel (INA). This research is partially funded by France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).

• The GS03 public documents are available here.

GS04 - Survey of Recordkeeping Practices of Composers
This survey’s objectives are to gather data relating to the types of records that are produced by composers, their assumptions regarding the future access of their records and the nature and variety of digital music systems they use. This will also shed light on how composers use the records they create, what their expectations are in terms of their future accessibility and how they ensure accessibility of their records over the long term.

• The GS04 public documents are available here.

GS07 - Survey of the Recordkeeping Practices of Photographers Using Digital Technology
This survey’s objectives are to gather data relating to the actual types of records that are produced by professional photographers using digital technology to fulfill their business and creative needs, their assumptions regarding the future access of their records and the nature and variety of digital imagery and recordkeeping systems they use. This will also shed light on how photographers use the records they create, what their expectations are in terms of their future accessibility and how they ensure the accessibility of their records over the long term.

• The GS07 public documents are available here.

FOCUS 2

GS01 - Building Preservation Environments with Data Grid Technology
This study focuses on the San Diego Supercomputer Center’s project to develop a prototype for a persistent archive based upon data grid technology for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The general study team will examine the minimal capabilities needed within grid technology for preservation of governmental records, focusing on activities related to the preservation of NARA’s selected digital holdings.

• The GS01 public documents are available here.

GS06 - A Bayesian Belief Network: Supporting the Assessment of the Degree of Belief that a Recordkeeping System Maintains Authentic Digital Records
This case study seeks to test the Authenticity Task Force’s Method of Assessment with the Benchmark Requirements for a Presumption of Authenticity, which is a product of the InterPARES 1 Project. Experiments will be conducted to determine whether the benchmark requirements and the method of assessment are actually able to determine the authenticity of records.

• The GS06 public documents are available here.

GS09 - Digital Recordkeeping Practices of GIS Archaeologists Worldwide: Results of a Web-based Survey
The primary objective of this survey is to gather and analyze baseline data about the existing digital recordkeeping knowledge and practices of GIS archaeologists worldwide to help gauge the current level of awareness and understanding within the global archaeological community about: (1) digital preservation issues, (2) digital recordkeeping practices, and (3) the potential impact of such practices on the long-term preservation of accurate, reliable, authentic and accessible digital archaeological data and research records. The survey findings will offer a more systemic, baseline perspective on the current state of digital recordkeeping practices within the archaeological community than has hitherto been available. A secondary objective of this survey is to provide information that will assist records preservers in better understanding the digital recordkeeping practices of archaeologists, with particular emphasis on their views towards creating and trusting records. This is particularly critical in light of the increasing reliance on GIS as the de facto tool for facilitating data amalgamation, manipulation, synthesis, analysis and preservation in archaeological research.

Ideally, it is hoped that the findings of the survey will serve as a standard against which archaeologists, archivists, collections managers and other key stakeholders can continue to measure and assess the overall effectiveness of continuing developments in the evolution of digital recordkeeping awareness and practices within the archaeological community. At the very least, the findings should equip archivists, collections managers and other records preservers with a better understanding of the challenges with which they can expect to be faced in the very near future when dealing with the long-term preservation of archaeological data and research.

• The GS09 public documents are available here.

GS10 - Preservation Practices of Scientific Data Portals
The purpose of this Study is to compile structured information about the standards and protocols in place at data archives / repositories / catalogues / portals in the sciences.

The study will also provide concrete information about the understanding of issues of accuracy / reliability / authenticity in the sciences by collecting information about the ways and means that are used to underwrite confidence in the accuracy / reliability / authenticity as practiced and implemented in the sciences (natural, physical, engineering and etc. and not social sciences). The study also aims to illuminate understanding about the structures in place at the surveyed data archives / repositories / catalogues / portals in the sciences that data providers and users rely upon to ensure access, accuracy accuracy / reliability / authenticity of the data.

• The GS10 public documents are available here.

FOCUS 3

GS08 - Survey of Government Web Site Interactivity
This study surveyed state government Web sites within the United States. Eleven states were sampled starting from the most to least populated. The survey was limited to five departments within each state government. They were the departments of education, corrections, social and health services, environmental protection and ecology, and driver licensing. While the survey was not exhaustive, the survey findings will guide the work that is being done in the Department of Motor Vehicles case study, which is currently in progress. Also, the survey will serve as a companion product to a report entitled, “Survey of Government Web sites Interactivity: Australia, British Columbia, Canada, India, Ontario, and Singapore,” compiled by Jim Suderman.

• The GS08 public documents are available here.

DOMAIN 3

GS11 - Selecting Digital File Formats for Long-Term Preservation
In recent years, it has become common practice for digital records repositories, including archives, to accept certain digital file formats for long-term preservation while rejecting others. The questions of whether archives should limit the number of file formats for preservation, and, if so, on what criteria selection of formats should be based, raise important theoretical and policy issues that need to be addressed both by researchers in the field of digital preservation and by practicing archivists managing digital repositories. This paper attempts to answer these questions by presenting an analysis of current issues and trends in the selection of file formats for preserving digital records, an analysis which, in keeping with the scope of research of InterPARES 2, focuses on the areas of e-government, the sciences and the arts. The paper offers a mainly qualitative review of documentation on the Web sites of twenty repositories and four multi-institutional collaborative groups which have well established ingest policies and/or procedures or guidelines for agencies transferring records.

• The GS11 public documents are available here.

POLICY CROSS-DOMAIN

Research and analysis of existing policies, strategies, guidelines, and standards in each of the focus areas in relation to each of the domains
This study examines how these policies, strategies, guidelines, and standards may apply to the digital environments under investigation, compares them to recognize commonalities and differences, and identifies gaps, especially in relation to the new issues arising from the accessibility, use, manipulability and fragility of the types of records being studied.

DESCRIPTION CROSS-DOMAIN

Metadata Schema/Descriptive Standards Registry
The team has developed a draft database that registers, describes, analyzes and evaluates metadata data and descriptive standards.

Literary Warrant Analysis database
The team has developed a database that stores information from the analysis of literature to identify warrant relating to accuracy, reliability, authenticity and preservation of records via metadata schema/descriptive standards. The Warrant Database can be found here.

MODELING CROSS-DOMAIN

Grand Unified Model (GUM)
The team has developed a Unified Model (in IDEF0) of creating, managing and preserving digital objects from the UBC-DoD project model and the InterPARES 1 models.

Entity Model
The team is developing an Entity Model (in UML and IDEF1) related to the GUM.

Case Study Models
The team has modeled fourteen case studies, including in Focus 1: CS02, CS03, CS09(1), CS13, and CS15; in Focus 2: CS14, CS19 and CS26; and in Focus 3: CS05, CS12, CS18, CS20, CS21 and CS24.

TERMINOLOGY CROSS-DOMAIN

Procedures and Criteria
The team has articulated procedures and criteria for the development of the Register, Glossary, Dictionary and Ontologies.

Register of Words and Phrases
The team has developed a register that lists all the words and phrases included in all official InterPARES documents.

Glossary
The team has developed a glossary that includes all terms and related definitions as they are and should be used across the InterPARES 2 research units, to ensure consistency. An interactive version of the Glossary can be found in the Terminology Database here. A printer-friendly copy of the entire Glossary can be found here.

Dictionary
The team has developed a dictionary of all terms included in the glossary, listing all the definitions of such terms provided by formal glossaries and dictionaries of the disciplines involved in the research. An interactive version of the Dictionary can be found in the Terminology Database here. A printer-friendly copy of the entire Dictionary can be found here.

Ontologies
The team has developed a set of ontologies that identify explicit relationships between concepts of records. This terminological instrument is useful for communicating the nuances of Diplomatics in the dynamic, experiential and interactive environments. A printer-friendly copy of the Ontologies can be found here.

Terminology Database
The team has developed an online database that brings together the Glossary and Dictionary. This database allows for search and retrieval of terms and definitions from both of these instruments, as well as viewing and printing out both instruments. It also provides access to the Ontologies. The Terminology Database can be found here.