A large number of collecting institutions are now acquiring born-digital materials. While it is clear that institutions are collecting digital content in some capacity, it is less clear how they are managing the content that comes under their authority.

"The Way We Do it Here" Mapping Digital Forensics Workflows in Collecting Institutions, a master's paper submitted by Martin J. Gengenbach to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, presents the findings of semi-structured interviews with archivists and curators applying digital forensics tools and practices to the management of born-digital content. The interviews were designed to explore which digital forensic tools are in use, how they are implemented within a digital forensics workflow, and what further challenges and opportunities such use may present. Findings indicate that among interview participants these tools are beneficial in the capture and preservation of born-digital content, particularly with digital media such as external hard drives, and optical or floppy disks. However, interviews reveal that metadata generated from the use of such tools is not easily translated into the arrangement, description, and provision of access to born-digital content.

Read the paper. 

Source: digitalcurationexchange.org