Audit Checklist for Certifying Digital Repositories

• A digital repository is important because it helps an organization manage and capture intellectual assets and information. Stored digital material could be used to support research, learning or administrative processes, depending on the needs of an organization. Contents of a digital repository can be searched or retrieved on demand. Digital repository items, in both commercial and open source, provide different ways the product is provided to the end user. But in order to be trusted, a digital repository must meet acceptable standards.

Organizational Structure

• Proper infrastructure is needed to store and provide access to digital products. The technical part is only one of the overarching infrastructure supporting the functionality of a digital repository. Critical to a credible digital repository are attributes such as administrative responsibility, financial sustainability and procedural accountability. These characteristics are indicative of a repository's comprehensive planning, preparedness and trustworthiness. Cornell University Library, for instance sums up these attributes in its digital repository policies and procedures which it says are embodied in "policy framework, policies and procedures, plans and strategies."

Knowledge Management

• A repository must have a mission statement that indicates its commitment to the long-term retention of digital products on behalf of depositors which should be readily accessible to the stakeholders. It must also demonstrate clearly that its compliance with the existing standards, policies and practices, with well-skilled designated staff. An organization must not only provide ongoing staff training, it must also recruit enough manpower to handle the scope and mission of the archiving program. Understaffing is a sign of incompetence. Because of the ever-changing technology, a repository must have a lifelong learning approach to staff development in order to face new challenges.

Accountability

• A digital repository has to provide clear documentation of its requirements and decisions. The documentation assures users, management and certifiers that the repository meets the standards of a trusted repository. Certification is a direct result of procedural accountability and comprehensive and current policies and practices. The repository must also commit itself to the periodic reviews and assessments to make sure it is functioning according to the required standards. Decisions and technological infrastructure must be documented. Transparency is an indication a repository is functioning according to the acceptable standards.