Practical Preservation: The PREMIS Experience
Priscilla Caplan and Rebecca Guenther
Abstract
In 2003 the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and Research
Libraries Group (RLG) established an international working group
to develop a common, implementable core set of metadata ele-
ments for digital preservation. Most published specifi cations for
preservation-related metadata are either implementation specifi c or
broadly theoretical. PREMIS (Preservation Metadata: Implementa-
tion Strategies) was charged to defi ne a set of semantic units that
are implementation independent, practically oriented, and likely
to be needed by most preservation repositories. The semantic units
will be represented in a data dictionary and in a METS-compatible
XML schema. In the course of this work, the group also developed
a glossary of terms and concepts, a data model, and a typology of
relationships. Existing preservation repositories were surveyed about
their architectural models and metadata practices, and some at-
tempt was made to identify best practices. This article outlines the
history and methods of the PREMIS Working Group and describes
its deliverables. It explains major assumptions and decisions made
by the group and examines some of the more diffi cult issues en-
countered.
Introduction
In 2003 the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and Research
Libraries Group (RLG) established an international working group to de-
velop a common, implementable core set of metadata elements for digital
preservation. Most published specifi cations for preservation-related meta-
data are either implementation specifi c or broadly theoretical. PREMIS
LIBRARY TRENDS, Vol. 54, No. 1, Summer 2005 (“Digital Preservation: Finding Balance,”
edited by Deborah Woodyard-Robinson), pp. 111–124
© 2005 The Board of Trustees, University of Illinois
112 library trends/summer 2005
(Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies) was charged to defi ne
a set of metadata elements that are implementation independent, practi-
cally o