Action Plan

In Fall 2016, the NHDS Steering Committee drafted an action plan outlining high-level activities to guide their work for the next three years. The activities will be reviewed regularly and adjusted as required to ensure they continue to meet the objectives of the NHDS.

The action plan outlines four focus areas for the work going forward: Community Engagement; Technical Infrastructure; Organizational Capacity; and Content and Scope.

(last updated May 23, 2017)

Content and Scope

1.1 Define a content strategy that considers all media types and formats (e.g. books, manuscripts, audio-visual material etc.) to identify a starting point (e.g. material in public domain, orphan works, out of commerce works that are still under copyright etc.). This includes:

• Building on existing inventories of digitization projects to identify opportunities, strengths, gaps and areas of expertise.
• Identifying and prioritizing projects, from the focus section of the strategy and elsewhere, that are of mutual benefit and interest.

Working group: Jonathan Bengtson, Geoffrey Harder, Heather Menzies

1.2 Conduct a survey of international digitisation efforts, analyse findings, and present recommendations about best/common practice for evaluation.

Working group: Kathleen O’Connell, Mary Rae Shantz

Technical Infrastructure

2.1 Define and develop a discovery mechanism that is sustainable, user-focused and forward-looking, considering standards and content.

• Conduct research to identify and understand key users of the discovery mechanism.
• Evaluate DPLA metadata and technical platform to see if they are viable options for the NHDS.

Working group: LAC staff, Secretariat

2.2 Research and develop future requirements in the area of digitization and metadata standards.

• Conduct survey of institutions to look for trends and best practices in metadata standards.
• Develop strategies to release data as open information and examine models for re-use such as linked open data, leveraging the work of others. .

Working group: Geoff Harder, Andrea Mills, Kathryn Ruddock

2.3 Research and develop end-user policies for the discovery mechanism (Privacy, Accessibility, Multiple Languages and Terms of Service etc.).

Working group: (to be discussed when 2.1 has been defined)

2.4 Research and develop best practices for infrastructure to ensure the preservation and sustainability of repositories.

• Conduct literature review ;
• Consult with experts;
• Discuss results with Steering Committee.

Working group: Carole Urbain, Loubna Ghaouti

2.5 Research and communicate best practices for file formats for access and preservation, thinking ahead to future potential uses and access. This will unfold in three phases:

1. Develop draft file format document;
2. Invite input from community and finalize document;
3. Develop further tools.

Working group: Ern Bieman, Paul Durand

2.6 Recommend policies and best practices for clearly identifying the copyright status of digitized works, through licensing (e.g., http://rightsstatements.org/en) or other means, to reduce barriers to maximum access and reuse of digitized collections.

Working group: Sandra Singh, Secretariat

Community Engagement

3.1 Define an operating model, including establishing working groups; and identifying best practices, shared processes and tools.

Working group: (to be discussed when projects have been identified)

3.2 Create best practices and tools to share with institutions and investigate meaningful training opportunities.

• Create and/or endorse a best practices toolkit for digitization and preservation including:

• • Conducting an environment scan of what exists already;
  • Drafting a proposal and inviting comments from the community;
  • Drafting recommendations for the Committee for publishing.

• Create an inventory of digitization and preservation training and conduct survey to understand gaps.

Working group: Ern Bieman, Paul Durand, Mary Rae Shantz

3.3 Develop approaches to help smaller and under-represented communities and organizations participate in NHDS digitization initiatives.

• Create online space to help match organizations who digitize with those needing digitization, emphasizing sustainability and preservation.

Working group: Ern Bieman, Angela Williams

3.4 Develop a communications plan to engage interested stakeholders, including identifying key audiences; messages; methods of communications; feedback mechanisms; and user satisfaction metrics.

• Conduct a user survey to identify the communications needs of the NHDS.

Working group: Heather Menzies, Angela Williams, LAC Communications, Secretariat

3.5 Establish contact with international counterparts to discuss common approaches.

Working group: Secretariat

Organizational Capacity

4.1 Develop a funding model that considers partner resources (in-cash and in-kind); government funding; philanthropic support; public-private collaboration; cost-recovery services; and crowdfunding.

Working group: Guy Berthiaume, Martha Whitehead

4.2  Promote existing funding opportunities to partners and collaborators.

Working group: (to be discussed when 4.1 is completed)

4.3 Develop a governance model for the Steering committee that discusses leadership, policies, relationships and accountability. This includes:

• Developing an evaluation framework to foster accountability and transparency.

Working group: Sandra Singh, Secretariat