Encoding power: the scripting of archival structures in digital spaces using the Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model

The Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model is a corner stone of the evolving discipline of digital preservation. It undergirds many of the systems that are used in daily practice in organizations engaging in digital preservation, and directly or indirectly influences commercial and open source tools, as well as administrative and personnel functions. Yet it also undergirds the field of digital preservation more generally as its design and revisions have taken place concurrent and in partnership with the growth of the profession into one that has boundaries, curricula, and standards of practice. There is closure around OAIS: it is ever assumed as background or foundational knowledge in new endeavors. It is a black box. Given the pervasiveness of OAIS, this research examines the values scripted into the sociotechnical object it represents. Using discourse analysis, this research traces the power relationships that arise as a result of the discourses that OAIS produces. I also explore the effects on professional practice that occur because of the discourses OAIS brings with it from its scientific origins and archive-informed terminology. The dissertation investigates terms like Designated Community and significant properties in order to lay bare the imperial tendencies scripted within OAIS as well as to expose the resistive and recuperative potential of this technology.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Library & Information Science

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2016

Author dc:creator

• Bettivia, Rhiannon Stephanie

Contributors dc:contributor

• McDonough, Jerome P.
• Kraus, Kari M.
• Hamilton, Kevin
• Chan, Anita S.

• Digital preservation
• Archives

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright 2016 Rhiannon S. Bettivia

Language dc:language

en

Handle dc:identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/92696

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/92696