Indicators for Sustainable Information Preservation
Public ConsultationThe UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa – Sahel has initiated the development of a set of indicators to assess information preservation sustainability, with a view to supporting member states in line with the objectives of the UNESCO IFAP (Information Preservation) and Memory of the World (MOW) (documentary heritage preservation) programmes. Many of the indicators are formulated to comply with UNESCO's Recommendation concerning the preservation of, and access to, documentary heritage including in digital form (adopted in 2015). The Indicators take into account a number of other reports and sets of indicators in this area. The Indicators propose that information preservation is deemed sustainable where it is: · Rights based and nurtures rights (such as freedom of expression, right to information, right to privacy, etc.);· Open for all to benefit, contribute, etc. (open standards/norms, no barrier to entry, open knowledge on information preservation, etc.);· Accessible to all, by enabling inclusivity, favouring diversity, guaranteeing understandability, credibility and usability, etc.· Multiple stakeholders supported. That is information preservation opportunities and challenges are addressed through the involvement and engagement of multiple stakeholders (government, public institutions, CSOs, private sectors, communities, etc.); · Resilience - adapting to changes (technology, environment, etc.) and capable of risk recovery.· Long-term oriented: information preservation guarantees availability, credibility, understandability and usability of information now and for future generation.We invite feedback on the draft indicators, particularly regarding the following questions. · In your view, are the indicators sound? Do they represent current best practice?· What additional indicators would be useful? Are there indicators in the document that are not useful?· What sources of evidence would you use to assess performance against the indicators? The full set of indicators may be downloaded from: http://bit.do/indicatorsInfoPreserv Please indicate changes either by editing this with tracked changes, or else specify your ideas in an email, and send to indicators.dakar@unesco.org Otherwise suggestions may be added directly in the Google Docs version at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VdKdctRbCQpf_MulCMzQeKa6iZq4WJ7S/view We would be grateful to receive comments by 1 May 2021. Contacts:UNESCO Regional Office for West Africa – SahelCommunication and Information SectionE-mail: indicators.dakar@unesco.org------------------------------
James Lowry
Queens College, The City University of New York
Jackson Heights NY
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