OAIS Compliance

4a. Trusted Digital Repositories:
OAIS Compliance

The organization commits to developing a repository that complies with the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) standard. See the discussion of the OAIS Reference Model. You may also refer to Section 5: Challenges, Defining Compliance.

The organization must provide the policies and procedures that are at the heart of the resulting OAIS. Organizational responsibilities include confirming that the design and implementation of the repository complies with the standard and monitoring the OAIS and corollary standards for substantive changes and requirements. 0101 The technological side of this attribute is to translate the requirements that are expressed in the OAIS standard into technical requirements, recommending the means and methods for implementing the repository, and ensuring that the implementation complies with the model.

$$$$ The resource implications of OAIS compliance include planning and implementation costs, as well as securing and committing adequate funding over time for the maintenance and enhancement of the repository. Ensuring OAIS compliance is an organizational responsibility for both outsourced and in-house funding options.

Background Note: This attribute is implicit in our model. In earlier versions of the TDR it was not listed as a separate attribute. Other standards can be mapped to OAIS, but, nothing else, so far, is as comprehensive, expressive, and broadly applicable as OAIS.

Exercise

  • Use a search engine to find references to OAIS.
  • Can you define what OAIS-compliance means based upon what you find?
  • Has your institution made a commitment to OAIS?
  • What is the difference between OAIS and OAI?