U.S. National Oceanographic Data Center Archival Practices and the Open Archives Information System Reference Model

This paper describes relationships between the Open Archival Information System Reference Model (OAIS RM) and the archival practices of the NOAA National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC). The OAIS RM defines a thorough approach to defining the processes, entities, and framework for maintaining digital information in an electronic archival environment without defining how to implement the framework. The NODC Archival Management System (AMS) is an example of an implementation of a persistent digital archive. Major OAIS RM components, such as the Submission Information Package, Archival Information Package, Dissemination Information Package, and Archival Storage are clearly comparable between the OAIS RM and the NODC AMS. The main participants (Producer, Consumer, Management, and OAIS) are represented in the NODC AMS, as are many primary functions (Ingest Process, Archive Process, Dissemination Process). Some important OAIS RM components, such as a consistent Submission Agreement and a deeper level of Preservation Description Information may be missing for some of the information archived in the NODC AMS. It is instructive to document the commonalities between the NODC system and the OAIS RM as the NOAA National Data Centers expand archival services for a broad and growing range of digital environmental data.