Record DNA: Reconceptualising the life of digital records as the future evidence base

记录 DNA：将数字记录的生命重新概念化为未来的证据基础

• 批准号: AH/P006868/1
• 负责人: Julie McLeod
• 金额: $ 4.17万
• 依托单位: Northumbria University
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2017
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2017 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FP006868%2F1
• 关键词: Record; DNA; Reconceptualising; life; digital

Scholars and members of the public rely on records (eg birth/death certificates, census and court records) as the evidence base for research. So too do those making policy or conducting inquiries. All require access to original, authentic records. They do so in the understanding that archivists and records managers have a base of theory and practice that enables the retention of records that are original, authentic, trusted, within context and useable. However, a major issue facing society is the extent to which the digital evidence base is at risk because the concept of the digital record has been challenged.In the digital world the container, i.e. the file, is no longer the record. The record comprises the granular objects that are scattered yet linked, e.g. chains of emails or tweets. Traditional ideas about a record, that it is fixed and unique, are under threat, replaced by uncertainty, mutability and the notion of liquidity. However, records have a 'DNA string', a term coined by Lomas and McLeod to represent the idea that records comprise individual elements, from the body of information and metadata through to software and hardware components, that link globally to create the presentation of a complete object. This DNA can change, degrade or break over time, or it can be maintained via migrations or combined and strengthened through mashups, linked data and blockchain technologies. In the digital world "the record, not the remix, is the anomaly today. The remix is the very nature of the digital."1 Concepts commonly accepted as defining a fixed original record are conflicted in the digital world where systems automatically generate multiple copies of documents (e.g. copies of emails held by both sender and recipient) across networks. Other complex issues surround the interrogation of evidential records. For example in the Hillsborough inquiry it was possible to review typescript statements and determine whether or not there had been alterations. This can be far harder with digital statements where many copies may exist with unclear authorship or the definitive original may disappear into a seemingly infinite cyberspace. If there are no 'original' records in the digital space what does this mean for the future evidence base? In the Hutton Inquiry emails proved critical to the evidence base. In this instance the emails interrogated were still available on the systems and servers in which they had been created. However, had the Inquiry been later and the emails been managed through time then the evidential status of these emails would have been subject to questions surrounding their integrity and authenticity. Since our future evidence base will be digital and multi-media, the reliability, authenticity and usability are crucial if we are to avoid losing our ability to interrogate records through time. The proposed novel international multidisciplinary research network is led by internationally recognised researchers in records management with The National Archives (TNA), UK government's official archive. The aim is to bring together practitioners, academics and others to explore how the digital has put the traditional concept of the record at risk and work towards a new concept of the digital record; to identify the key issues and challenges of ensuring the future usability of digital records (the evidence base) by all stakeholders through time; to propose a research agenda to address the challenges, and to facilitate effective collaboration to progress digital records research in theory and practice. The network will engage expertise in information, law, digital humanities and computer forensics and a wide range of communities (e.g. the public, historians) to provide perspectives to feed into research and ultimately good practice solutions. Using social media tools, participants from any community will be able to contribute to the network.1 Keen, A. (2007). The cult of the amateur. Nicholas Brealey. p 23-4.

学者和公众依靠记录(如出生/死亡证明、人口普查和法庭记录)作为研究的证据基础。那些制定政策或进行调查的人也是如此。所有这些都需要访问原始的、真实的记录。他们这样做是基于这样一种理解，即档案管理员和记录管理人员拥有理论和实践基础，能够保留原始的、真实的、可信的、符合背景的和可使用的记录。然而，社会面临的一个主要问题是数字证据库的风险程度，因为数字记录的概念受到了挑战。在数字世界中，容器，即文件，不再是记录。记录包括分散但链接的颗粒状对象，例如电子邮件或推文的链。关于记录是固定和独特的传统观念正受到威胁，取而代之的是不确定性、变化性和流动性的概念。然而，记录有一个DNA字符串，这是洛马斯和麦克劳德创造的一个术语，代表了这样一种想法，即记录由单个元素组成，从信息体和元数据到软件和硬件组件，这些元素在全球范围内链接起来，创造出一个完整的对象的呈现。这种DNA可以随着时间的推移而改变、退化或断裂，也可以通过迁移来维持，或者通过混搭、关联数据和区块链技术来组合和加强。在数字世界，“记录，而不是混音，是今天的反常现象。混音是数字的本质。”1在数字世界中，通常被接受为定义固定原始记录的概念是相互冲突的，在数字世界中，系统跨网络自动生成文档的多个副本(例如，发送者和接收者双方持有的电子邮件的副本)。其他复杂的问题围绕着证据记录的审问。例如，在希尔斯伯勒调查中，可以审查打字稿声明，并确定是否有改动。对于数字声明来说，这可能会困难得多，因为在数字声明中，可能存在许多作者不明的副本，或者最终的原件可能会消失在似乎无限的网络空间中。如果数字空间中没有“原始”记录，这对未来的证据库意味着什么？在赫顿调查中，电子邮件被证明对证据库至关重要。在这种情况下，询问的电子邮件在创建它们的系统和服务器上仍然可用。然而，如果调查推迟，这些电子邮件经过一段时间的管理，那么这些电子邮件的证据状态将受到围绕其完整性和真实性的质疑。由于我们未来的证据库将是数字和多媒体的，如果我们要避免失去随着时间推移而审问记录的能力，那么可靠性、真实性和可用性是至关重要的。拟议的新的国际多学科研究网络由英国政府的官方档案馆国家档案馆(TNA)的国际公认的记录管理研究人员领导。其目的是将从业人员、学者和其他人聚集在一起，探讨数字技术如何使传统的记录概念处于危险之中，并努力实现数字记录的新概念；确定确保所有利益攸关方今后能够使用数字记录(证据库)的关键问题和挑战；提出应对挑战的研究议程，并促进有效合作，从理论和实践上推进数字记录研究。该网络将吸收信息、法律、数字人文和计算机取证方面的专业知识以及广泛的社区(如公众、历史学家)，为研究和最终的良好做法解决方案提供视角。使用社交媒体工具，来自任何社区的参与者都将能够为网络做出贡献。对业余爱好者的崇拜。尼古拉斯·布莱利。第23-4页。

项目成果

Record DNA: Reconceptualising the life of digital records as the future evidence base

记录 DNA：将数字记录的生命重新概念化为未来的证据基础

• 发表时间: 2019
• 作者: McLeod J

Record DNA: reconceptualising digital records as the future evidence base.

记录DNA：将数字记录重新概念化为未来的证据基础。

• DOI: 10.1007/s10502-023-09414-w
• 发表时间: 2023-04-12
• 期刊: Archival science
• 影响因子: 1.1
• 作者: McLeod J;Lomas E
• 通讯作者: Lomas E