InterPARES

Thanks to a comment by Michael Lines on my electronic discovery piece, I’ve discovered the InterPARES Project at the University of British Columbia:

The International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES) aims at developing the theoretical and methodological knowledge essential to the long-term preservation of authentic records created and/or maintained in digital form. This knowledge should provide the basis from which to formulate model policies, strategies and standards capable of ensuring the longevity of such material and the ability of its users to trust its authenticity.

Currently in phase two, it continues to deal with issues of authenticity and also:

…delves into the issues of reliability and accuracy from the perspective of the entire life-cycle of records, from creation to permanent preservation. It focuses on records produced in complex digital environments in the course of artistic, scientific and e-government activities…

according to its director, Dr. Luciana Duranti, who is in the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies at UBC.

There is an astonishing wealth of material here that is relevant to the practice of law, if at one or two removes. I’ve only just begun to explore the InterPARES website, but it isn’t immediately clear that there are any lawyers involved, which is unfortunate if true. The Description Cross-Domain Group, for example, is examining metadata and describe the value of their study in part this way:

Recordkeeping metadata, of which one key type is archival description, plays a particularly important role in documenting the various contexts (legal-administrative, provenancial, procedural, documentary, and technical) within which records are created and kept as they move across space and time.

This is important stuff. Take a look. I’ll revisit it if I can and provide more law-relevant material in the future.