Glossary

Archival terms and concepts are defined in many related standards (e.g. ISO 16175, ISO 17068 ISO 15489, ISO 14721, ISO 16363), many of which are not consistent with each other. We do not intend to create a new set of definitions; on the other hand, we would like to use the archival terms consistently throughout the model. In the Glossary, we explain the intended meaning of the most important or most ambiguous terms.

Archive and Archiving
In professional terminology, Archive can mean either a physical repository, a set of (archived) information or an (archival) organisation. The E-ARK Reference Architecture uses the term Archive to refer to any group of people and associated infrastructure which implements long-term digital accessibility measures. As such, an Archive can be anything from a single person to specific large archival organisations.

Accordingly, the term Archiving refers to the processes carried out by the Archive, which can be implemented either as small functional components or processes within larger information environments, as a specific large-scale digital preservation infrastructure or anything in between.

Information versus Data
Information is considered to be the main asset of archiving. The word information is used whenever the archived content and its technical and business context are referred to. Data is only used when we refer to the technical aspects and the content bitstreams and files managed by archiving.

Archival information versus archived information
The term archival information refers to any data element or piece of information anywhere throughout the entire archival process from pre-ingest to access. On the other hand, archived information only referred to data elements or pieces of information already stored in an archival repository (e.g. in an Archival Information Package).

Available versus Retrievable versus Accessible versus Usable
These terms are not easy to differentiate. They are synonyms in everyday language but used in very specific meanings in several standards. Unfortunately, these particular meanings are inconsistent in those documents. We have decided to use them in the following sense: If available, then data in its purest sense are there. If you have methods and tools, you can retrieve them. If it is available and retrievable, then the information is accessible if you have the proper rights to access it (or, in general, if one could have the rights to access it). Finally, information is only usable if you can view and interpret it along with its context.

Trustworthiness versus Reliability versus Integrity versus Authenticity
One of the critical aspects of any archive is to ensure that the information it keeps can be trusted. More specifically, the E-ARK Reference Architecture understands Trustworthiness as a quality of both the Archive and the Information it holds.

For Archives, Trustworthiness is about carrying out their processes in a controlled and repeatable fashion. For Information, Trustworthiness does have the sub-characteristics of reliability, authenticity and accuracy ( https://interparestrust.org/terminology/term/trustworthiness):

• Reliable information is one whose content can be trusted as a full and accurate representation of the transactions, activities, or facts to which it attests and therefore can be depended upon in the course of subsequent transactions or activities.
• Authentic information is proven to be what it purports to be, created by the agency with which it is identified, and created when it claims to have been created.
• Accurate information is precise, correct, truthful, free of error or distortion, or pertinent to the matter.

Other terms used in the model:

OAIS
The Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model is designed to provide a comprehensive framework to help organizations maintain and preserve access to digital information over the long term. It is widely used by archives, libraries, and other institutions responsible for preserving digital content.

Archiving by Design (or Sustainable Access)
The Archiving by Design is new approach in digital archiving. It aims to make sure that during the design or adjustment of information systems, the appropriate measures are taken to ensure that the information becomes, and stays, sustainably accessible.

DUTO Framework (used with the Archiving by Design views)
We have built our views on the Dutch DUTO framework, the only existing implementation of the Archiving by Desing approach at the time of creating this version of the reference architecture.

Maturity Model
The eArchiving Capability Maturity Model (eACMM) enables the assessment of the information governance practice in organizations regarding digital archiving. A Maturity Model consists of several entities, including “maturity levels” (often six) which are, from the lowest to the highest, (0) Non-Existent, (1) Initial, (2) Basic, (3) Intermediate, (4) Advanced and (5) Optimizing. A Maturity Model also provides a way for organizations to see clearly what they must accomplish to progress to the next maturity level.