Workbook on Digital Private Papers > Administrative and preservation metadata > Preservation metadata
Preservation metadata
Introducing PREMIS
OAIS is a reference model not an implementation guide and it is recognised that implementing preservation metadata along the lines that the model suggests relies on a more detailed expression of requirements. Early initiatives to define OAIS' preservation metadata concepts more fully include the work of the CURL Exemplars in Digital Archives (CEDARS) project; National Library of Australia (NLA); National Library of New Zealand (NLNZ) and Networked European Deposit Library (NEDLIB). Each of these initiatives produced an implementable breakdown of semantic units. All demonstrated a desire to embrace a common preservation metadata standard applicable to digital files of all kinds, allowing the same schema to be used regardless of file type or preservation strategy. The NLA and NLNZ schemes also provided an additional layer of metadata geared towards the needs of specific file types. All four undertakings produced valuable results, but the primary aim of the three institutions was to develop schemes that were capable of satisfying local, rather than global, requirements.
In 2003, the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and Research Libraries Group (RLG) established a working group (OCLC/RLG Preservation Metadata Framework Working Group) which would build on the work of these early initiatives. Composed of international experts involved in developing or implementing preservation repositories around the globe, the group was charged with investigating preservation metadata-related issues and defining 'an implementable set of "core" preservation metadata elements, with broad applicability to digital preservation repositories'. This aim of 'broad applicability' challenged the group to produce a standard which could be used by a variety of institutions. The working group formed two subgroups: an Implementation Strategies Subgroup, which published a report on the state of the art in this area based on 70 survey responses, and the Core Elements Subgroup, which produced the PREMIS Data Dictionary 1.0.
