The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) conducted a preservation audit of Canadiana.org (hereafter referred to as “Canadiana”) between January and December 2014, and on the basis of that audit certifies it as a trustworthy digital repository. Specifically, this certification applies to Canadiana’s ability to preserve static digital files in common file formats produced through the digitization of physical materials by Canadiana. Those materials include, specifically, content accessible as of December 2014 through one or more of the following web portals: Early Canadiana Online, Héritage, Historical Debates of the Parliament of Canada and DFATD Digital Library. It does not apply to born-digital materials and other digital files archived by Canadiana but produced by others.
Moreover, the CRL Certification Advisory Panel expects that in the future, Canadiana will continue to be able to deliver content that is understandable and usable by its designated community.
It is important to understand that, unlike other digital preservation services such as CLOCKSS and Portico, Canadiana is not a digital repository service solely focused on preservation. Instead, Canadiana’s preservation functions are integrated within its platform for managing digital content for a set of publicly accessible digital libraries. The resultant exposure of the repository’s content to users adds a measure of transparency to the Canadiana operations that can be considered an asset.
The present report is based upon review by CRL and the members of its Certification Advisory Panel of extensive documentation gathered by CRL independently from open sources and third parties, as well as data and documentation provided by Canadiana. Information was also obtained through two site visits by CRL audit personnel to the Canadiana offices in Ottawa, Ontario. CRL’s evaluation of Canadiana and the information provided in this report reflect the policies, systems and procedures that were in place at Canadiana to manage deposited content as of December 2014.
The overall conclusion of the Panel was that Canadiana can be recognized by its designated community as a repository capable of managing and preserving the digital content produced through its own digitization program, and content created by others for which Canadiana itself creates the submission information package (SIP). This content is described in Canadiana’s online document, TDR Repository Content, to be found at the time of this writing on the Canadiana website.