University of Florida

The Florida Center for Library Automation and its partners, the Cornell University Library and the New York University Libraries, will develop a proof of concept for the exchange of information between digital preservation repositories. In order to ensure a persistent, long life of digital data, information stewardship organizations running heterogeneous, geographically dispersed digital preservation repositories must be able to exchange copies of archived information with each other. Practical repository-to-repository transfer requires agreed-upon transfer protocols, enhancements to repository software applications, and a common standards-based transfer format capable of transporting rich preservation metadata and associated digital objects. Building on prior work, this project will define a transfer format, modify three different open source repository applications to import and export information packages in this format, and test a carefully developed set of use cases to verify the usability and flexibility of the format.