Overview: GeoMAPP Appraisal Efforts

1. Overview: GeoMAPP Appraisal Efforts NDSA Geospatial Working Group| 27 June 2012 |

2. What is Appraisal?Geoarchiving Phases Roadmap • Appraisal is a key phase in the Geospatial Archiving Project Process • Identify which geospatial assets will be archived Inventory

3. Appraisal • GIS Inventory provides useful a population to start appraising • Time-consuming • Often is Judgmental and Subjective • Therefore, defining criteria can promote consistency in selection and facilitate (speed) the selection process • Selection decisions may be influenced by: • Collection Policy and Organizational Mission Alignment • Statutory Authority or Agreements • Assessment of Continuing Value (Predictive) • Future Research Use (e.g. Use as a baseline for future comparisons, Conduct temporal analysis of changes over time, capture key sociological, environmental, etc. characteristics) • Secondary Uses • Geographic Data Interdependencies

4. value • There are several types of value that may be considered: • Legal • Evidentiary • (enduring) Historical • Research • Ephemeral • Administrative • Fiscal • Economic (e.g. the cost to replace)

5. GeoMAPP State Archives Appraisal Considerations / Learnings • Established cross-organizational (GIS + Archivist) Appraisal evaluation teams • Are datasets statewide or local (what’s relevant for preservation at the State Archives?) • GeoMAPP partners used Ramona Framework Data Layers as initial basis for selection – because the GIS community has declared these as important

6. GeoMAPP State Archives Appraisal Considerations / Learnings • Identify frequency of capture • Not all datasets will be captured with same rate • Consider frequency that the data changes • Consider regularly scheduled captures for frequently changing data (e.g. once/quarter) • For “stable” datasets capture once/year (or what makes sense) • KY: captures all KYGEONET datasets quarterly in geodatabase snapshot • NC: captures older datasets as superseded • UT: frequency depends on record series. Most datasets – annual snapshot, except parcels – quarterly snapshot • MT: archives all data it serves. Serves data that meets a collection development policy. • Format of the dataset, alone, is not an appraisal consideration. May be considered as part of economic evaluation … tools to access, reformatting costs, etc. • Data format guidelines may be established and documented • Formats handled through Archival Processing process (e.g. transformations)

7. Appraisal Outputs • Appraisal evaluation assessment • Appraisal evaluation questions • Assessed records inventory • Records Schedules • Identifies and describes the records to be held by the archives • Defines Retention Period – how long records will be held • Defines Disposition Actions through the records’ life cycle • Final Destruction • Transfer to another organization

8. Retention Schedule (Kentucky)

9. Retention Schedule (North Carolina) Sample Schedule Item from NC OneMap DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES CENTER FOR GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION AND ANALYSIS NC ONEMAP DYNAMIC DATASETS ITEM xxxxx. MUNICIPAL BOUNDARIES DATASET Dataset of North Carolina municipal governmental boundaries submitted by participating N.C. municipal governments to the N.C. Department of Transportation under the provisions of the Powell Bill Program. This dataset may be created by N.C. state agencies and/or county governments, and may represent different scale sizes and file formats. Dataset will be superseded by new datasets from the N.C. Department of Transportation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) staff on a regular basis. N.C. CGIA will capture and provide a link to new datasets. DISPOSITION INSTRUCTIONS: Retain superseded dataset in office upon the receipt of new dataset. Transfer datasets upon update to the State Records Center for immediate transfer to the custody of the Archives. Contact the Government Records Branch, Electronic Records Unit prior to transfer of datasets.

10. Retention Schedule (Utah)

11. Collection Development Policy (Montana) • Montana State Library is using a “library collection development policy” approach rather than a “records management” approach with retention schedules. • Most data archived will remain archived in perpetuity unless it is formally archived by another agency (i.e NAIP imagery)

12. Summary • Appraisal is Subjective, but must be done! • Archivists should collaborate with the GIS content creators / subject matter experts to help in evaluating value • Critical to institutionalize the selection processes • Define your appraisal questions & criteria • Document your appraisal decisions • Establish agreement in point of capture, and frequency of capture • Document retention schedules • May require involvement in your state’s legislative processes • Start small, but do start!