RESEARCH

My research aims to find solutions to digital record issues that can be universally applied. I analyze the historical development and inner meaning of the concepts used in my research in order to understand the way in which new concepts, principles, ideas and methods resulting from such research relate to existing ones.

This special interest began in 1994, when I undertook with Terry Eastwood a study on the "Preservation of the integrity of electronic records," in the course of which we collaborated with the United States Department of Defense Records Management Task Force. This study resulted in several publications, among which is a book bearing the same title as the study, written by myself in collaboration with Terry Eastwood and Heather MacNeil (who had been our Graduate Research Assistant for the project), and issued in 2002 by Kluwer Academic Publishing (now Springer). Most importantly, it developed rules for records creators on how to make and keep their records, based on the theory and methods of diplomatics, that were incorporated in the DoD 5015.2 Standard (US Department of Defense, 2000, 2002 and 2007) and in the Model requirements for the management of electronic records (MoReq, 2001 and 2008) standard (see The Preservation of the Integrity of Electronic Records and MoReq2).

This early research work led to the conception and development of the Center for the International Study of Contemporary Records and Archives (Visit CISCRA), which was approved by the UBC Senate and Board of Governors in October 1999 and established by the UBC President as a centre of excellence for research on digital records. The first project to be housed in and led by CISCRA was InterPARES (International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems), funded by a variety of SSHRC grants, which I began in 1998 and directed since. The Project is now in its 5th phase, called InterPARES Trust AI, funded by a SSHRC Partnership grant (2021-2026). Many MAS and PhD students have been involved with the InterPARES Project as Graduate Research Assistants; they have carried out various tasks, including gathering data for case studies, preparing and testing models, developing annotated bibliographies, and presenting their findings at InterPARES workshops and at national and international conferences. In doing so, many GRAs have worked closely with co-investigators from a wide range of institutions around the world. For more information on InterPARES, please visit the Project site at www.interpares.org and www.interparestrustai.org

Other research projects I either direct or have participated in include:

  • Records in the Cloud (2012-2016), funded by SSHRC – PI - See recordsinthecloud.org
  • The Law of Evidence in the Digital Environment (2012-2015), funded by SSHRC – co-PI with Anthony Sheppard (Faculty of Law) - See lawofevidence.org
  • Digital Records Forensics (2008-2011), funded by SSHRC – PI (Principal Investigator) - See digitalrecordsforensics.org
  • Universities Institutional Repositories: Copyright and Long-term Preservation (2009-2011), funded by Hampton - PI - See uir-preservation.org
  • ICA Digital Recordkeeping Curriculum Resources (2010-2012), funded by InterPARES and the ICA – PI - Download Here
  • ICA Multilingual Archival Terminology Database (2011-2012), funded by InterPARES and the ICA – PI - See ciscra.org/mat
  • The Canadian Legal Framework for Evidence and the Digital Economy: A Disjunction? (2010), funded by SSHRC – co-PI with Anthony Sheppard (Faculty of Law) – See Sheppard, Duranti - The Canadian Legal Framework - Final Report