This text can be reused without permission within data management plans, donor agreements, grant applications, etc. when the DRS will be used as the digital preservation repository. Please contact Andrea Goethals Digital Preservation Services at digipres@HU.onmicrosoft.com for variations of this text to fit your particular use case.
Last updated: May 9August 4, 20172023
Harvard Library (HL) Digital Repository Service (DRS)
The Digital Repository Service (DRS) is the Harvard Library’s Library’s long-term preservation and access repository containing over 213 TB of digitized and born-digital material in many different formats. It is a robust and mature repository that has been in production since 2000 and is . As a core Library stewardship service, it provides assurances regarding the long-term integrity, authenticity, accessibility, and usability of the University's digital collections. In production since 2000, it is now used by over fifty Harvard libraries, archives and museums. The DRS technology is maintained by Harvard's Library Technology Services (LTS) department. , museums, research centers, and academic as well as administrative departments. Service oversight and business ownership for the DRS is the responsibility of HL Digital Preservation Services, while technical and operational control of the repository system is exercised by HUIT Library Technology Services. Content deposited to the DRS is automatically validated for compliance with DRS Harvard Library's format and metadata standards, virus-checked, assigned persistent names, and replicated in quadruplicate to professionally-staffed data centers in Cambridge, Boston and Southborough, MA. Scripts are run continuously across 2 of the on-line copies to check that the bits have not been corrupted. In the event corruption is detected, LTS system administrators use documented procedures to replace corrupted copies with good copies. The DRS metadata receives the same preservation care as the content files. The metadata is written to a database and index that are backed up daily, but also written to files that are replicated and monitored using the same technologies and practices as used for the content files.Harvard Library commits to making sure that DRS content remains usable long-term even as technologies change. All DRS content conforms to documented “content models” specifying the allowable formats, associated rendering tools and preservation plans. DRS preservation staff monitor these formats and renderers to watch for signs of obsolescing formats. Workflows for migrating obsolete formats were recently created for the DRS and will be used to convert obsolete formats to modern formats over time. DRS staff are qualified to conduct such format migrations as they already have experience migrating the content to newer generations of storage systems and the metadata to new metadata schemas. across geographically-dispersed and technologically-heterogeneous storage platforms operated by the University, regional consortia, and commercial providers. The DRS adheres to or is consistent with all major IT and digital preservation standards and best practices, including OAIS (ISO 14721), TDR (ISO 16363), METS, OCFL, PREMIS, and the NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation. It also conforms to University policies regarding digital accessibility and information security.