Reviving Digital Projects

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Dianne Dietrich, Cornell University; Jennifer Doty, Emory University; Jen Green, University of Michigan; Nicole Scholtz, University of Michigan
• Language: English
• Date: 2008
• Publisher: Code4Lib
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: Authors retain copyright on their works, but articles we publish in the journal must be licensed by their authors under a US CC-BY license.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported
• Final Published Version (URL): http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/685
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Code4Lib Journal
• ISSN: 1940-5758
• Issue: 5
• Start Page: 12
• End Page: 15
• Research Categories: Library Science

Abstract

What do you do when you are in charge of assessing and reviving an abandoned digital project you had no part in creating or implementing? This article will talk about the unique challenges and issues involved in such a project, drawing from a specific example at the University of Michigan Library. We contended with unfamiliar software, limited technical documentation, proprietary file formats and platform migration, and will discuss how we approached each of these specific technical issues. After reviving our project and reflecting on our process, we put together a list of guidelines that we feel will help assist others who may find themselves in similar situations.