Further reading
- Jack Kabrel (October 14, 2016), Oral History Interview – Subject: Ken Thibodeau (PDF), NARA, retrieved 2020-11-19
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Kenneth Thibodeau | |
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| Born | 1945 Cohoes, New York, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Records management expert |
| Known for | DoD 5015.03 standard |
Kenneth Francis Thibodeau (born 1945) is an American specialist in electronic records management who worked for many years at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). He was responsible for development of the pioneering DoD 5015.02 standard for electronic records management and for creation of NARA's Electronic Records Archives System (ERA).
Kenneth Thibodeau was born in Cohoes, New York, United States, in 1945. He studied at Fordham University, where he received a bachelor's degree in history in 1967. [1] He also studied at the University of Strasbourg in France. [2] He went on to the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained a PhD in history and sociology of science in 1974. [1]
In 1975 Charles M. Dollar hired Thibodeau to work in NARA's Machine Readable Archives Division. [1] He joined a team that reviewed the electronic records of federal agencies to ensure they could be archived by NARA. [3] He left NARA in 1978 to work as a records management officer and privacy act officer at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). [1] He worked on office automation practices and strategic planning for management of information resources. [3] In 1982 he was appointed head of the NIH Records Management Branch. [1]
In 1988 Thibodeau returned to NARA and until 1995 was director of NARA's Center of Electronic Records. [1] He played a central role in developing the partnerships between several archival organizations and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. [4] In 1996 he was detailed to the Department of Defense. [1] At the Office of the Secretary of Defense he led the development of the 5015.2-STD Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management Software Applications, the first such standard to be published. [3]
From 1996 to 1998 Thibodeau was deputy director of NARA's Modern Records Program. [1] From 1998 to 2009 he was director of NARA's Electronic Records Archives Program, authorized by John W. Carlin, the archivist of the United States. [1] The Electronic Records Archives (ERA) System went live in 2008, and by 2011 held about 100 terabytes of records in electronic form. [3] Thibodeau then became director of NARAs Center for Advanced Systems and Technology. [5] He retired in 2011. [1]
As a member of the Society of American Archivists, from 1992 to 1993 Thibodeau was a member of the Standards Committee, in 1995 he was co-chair of the Committee on Education, from 1998 to 2000 he was a member of the Committee on Automated Records and Techniques, and in 2011 he was a member of the Program Committee. In December 2011 he was nominated to serve of the council of the society. [6]
From 2011 to 2016 Thibodeau was senior guest scientist at the Information Technology Laboratory of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He also contributed in various roles to the Tufts University Linked Archival Metadata (LiAM) project, the National Science Foundation's Office of Advanced Cyber Infrastructure, the University of British Columbia's InterPARES Trust, the Working Group on Records Management, the Encyclopedia of Archival Science and the Italian Journal of Library, Archives and Informational Science. [5]
Material to be archived ranges from simple text documents to complex multimedia web pages. [7] In a 2002 essay Thibodeau suggested three ways of viewing objects to be preserved. First, they are physical objects, such as flux reversals on a magnetic tape. Second, they are logical objects that can be recognized and interpreted by certain processes and software, such as a Word .doc file. Third, they are conceptual objects, such as a digital photograph as it appears on the screen. What he called an "information object" has all three properties. [8] Thibodeau noted that its properties at each of those levels can be significantly different". [7]
Thibodeau stressed that digital preservation cannot be separated from the questions of access. [9] [10] [lower-alpha 1] He pointed out that archives have a unique responsibility to "preserve and deliver authentic records to subsequent generations of users." [11] Thibodeau and others such as Victoria Lemieux see graph theory and semantic technology as fundamental to the theory of archives and records management. [12] Thibodeau distinguished "records" from other types of document. [11]
Records are documents accumulated in the course of practical activities. As instruments and byproducts of those activities, records constitute a primary and privileged source of evidence about the activities and the actors involved in them. While records are often conceived in terms of textual documents, such as letters and reports, they can take any form. What differentiates records from documentary materials in general is not their form, but their connection to the activities in which they are made and received. If this link is broken, corrupted, or even obscured, the information in the record may be preserved, but the record itself is lost.
Noting the diversity, complexity and sheer volume of material that NARA has to manage, Thibodeau wrote: [13]
Information in digital form poses critical challenges for the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). While many other institutions are facing such challenges, NARA's situation is different because of the special requirements that apply to archival institutions, NARA's unique role in the Federal Government, and the scale and diversity of the Government's programs. NARA views success in facing these challenges as entailing nothing less than building the archives of the future. In sober terms, unless we succeed in surmounting these challenges there will not be a National Archives of the United States for the digital era.
Awards and honorary titles include: [5] [6]
Publications include: [6]
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The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an independent agency of the United States government within the executive branch, charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It is also tasked with increasing public access to those documents which make up the National Archives. NARA is officially responsible for maintaining and publishing the legally authentic and authoritative copies of acts of Congress, presidential directives, and federal regulations. NARA also transmits votes of the Electoral College to Congress. It also examines Electoral College and constitutional amendment ratification documents for prima facie legal sufficiency and an authenticating signature.
Diplomatics, or diplomatic, is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, protocols and formulae that have been used by document creators, and uses these to increase understanding of the processes of document creation, of information transmission, and of the relationships between the facts which the documents purport to record and reality.
In library and archival science, digital preservation is a formal endeavor to ensure that digital information of continuing value remains accessible and usable. It involves planning, resource allocation, and application of preservation methods and technologies, and it combines policies, strategies and actions to ensure access to reformatted and "born-digital" content, regardless of the challenges of media failure and technological change. The goal of digital preservation is the accurate rendering of authenticated content over time. The Association for Library Collections and Technical Services Preservation and Reformatting Section of the American Library Association, defined digital preservation as combination of "policies, strategies and actions that ensure access to digital content over time." According to the Harrod's Librarian Glossary, digital preservation is the method of keeping digital material alive so that they remain usable as technological advances render original hardware and software specification obsolete.
In archival science, a fonds is a group of documents that share the same origin and that have occurred naturally as an outgrowth of the daily workings of an agency, individual, or organization. An example of a fonds could be the writings of a poet that were never published or the records of an institution during a specific period.
Archival science, or archival studies, is the study and theory of building and curating archives, which are collections of documents, recordings and data storage devices.
United States Department of Defense standard 5015.2-STD, the Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management Software Applications, was implemented in June 2002. This standard defines requirements for the management of records within the Department of Defense, which has become the accepted standard for many state, county, and local governments.
The Digital Curation Centre (DCC) was established to help solve the extensive challenges of digital preservation and digital curation and to lead research, development, advice, and support services for higher education institutions in the United Kingdom.
Margaret L. Hedstrom is an American archivist who is the Robert M. Warner Collegiate Professor of Information at the University of Michigan School of Information. She has contributed to the field of digital preservation, archives, and electronic records management and holds a doctorate in history from the University of Wisconsin.
Charles M. Dollar, an internationally recognized expert on the life cycle management of electronic records, particularly electronic records archiving, pioneered research into digital preservation of electronic records.
Paul Conway is an associate professor at the University of Michigan School of Information and has worked with Yale University and Duke University Universities after starting his career at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library. His research and educational work focuses primarily on digital preservation and electronic media. He has published extensively throughout his career on library preservation, conservation issues, and education of library and archives personnel.
Terence M. Eastwood is best known for his pioneering roles in archival education internationally and the creation of archival descriptive standards in Canada. He has published widely on a number of topics of importance to the development of archival theory and has lectured and presented throughout the world. His work supervising archival studies students helped craft a whole new generation of archivists who themselves have gone on to make important contributions to the field.
The Electronic Records Archives (ERA) is a program of the United States National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) to preserve electronic records as part of the U.S. government's broader records management process. The program began in 1998 and started to accept records in 2008. As of 2017, NARA was working to overhaul the system in an effort called "ERA 2.0."
The archival bond is a concept in archival theory referring to the relationship that each archival record has with the other records produced as part of the same transaction or activity and located within the same grouping. These bonds are a core component of each individual record and are necessary for transforming a document into a record, as a document will only acquire meaning through its interrelationships with other records.
Luciana Duranti is an archival theorist and professor of archival science and diplomatics at the School of Library, Archival and Information Studies, University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She is a noted expert on diplomatics and electronic records. Since 1998, she has been the director of the electronic records research project, InterPARES. She has disclosed the concept of the archival bond originally initiated by Italian archivist Giorgio Cencetti in 1937.
Elizabeth Yakel is an archivist, researcher, and educator in information science. Yakel is known for work advancing archival practice, the use of primary sources in archives education, studies of data reuse practices, and digital curation. Yakel is the senior associate dean for academic affairs and a professor at the University of Michigan School of Information, where she has been on the faculty since 2000. She is the former coordinator of the Preservation of Information specialization in the Master of Science in Information program and teaches in the Archives and Record Management area. She specializes in digital archives and digital preservation and has developed five such graduate level courses at UM, including "Economics of Sustainable Digital Information" and "Practical Engagement Workshop in Digital Preservation."
The International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems is a "major international research initiative in which archival scholars, computer engineering scholars, national archival institutions and private industry representatives are collaborating to develop the theoretical and methodological knowledge required for the permanent preservation of authentic records created in electronic systems." As a global consortia that works to develop preservation strategies, the project focuses on "developing the knowledge essential to the long-term preservation of authentic records created and/or maintained in digital form and providing the basis for standards, policies, strategies and plans of action capable of ensuring the longevity of such material and the ability of its users to trust its authenticity."
The Emmett Leahy Award is given annually to individuals who have had major impact on the field of information management. The award has been given since 1967, and honors Emmett Leahy, a pioneer in records management.
Adrian Cunnningham is an Australian archivist who worked for many years at the National Archives of Australia. He is known for his contributions to the practice of digital records management, including development of international standards in this field.
Adrian Brown is a British archivist specializing in digital records preservation. He led development of the widely used PRONOM file format registry and associated DROID software tool. He is the author of Practical Digital Preservation: A How-To Guide for Organizations of Any Size (2013).
Victoria Louise Lemieux is a Canadian specialist in records management and Associate Professor of Archival Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC). She is known for her research into financial information management, risk mitigation including using blockchain technology in risk reduction.
