Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Expertise & Perceptions Of Risk In Coretrustseal Certification, Rebecca D. Frank, Ammar Mustufa, Timothy Poteet

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

This poster examines the relationship between risk perception and expertise among staff members of CoreTrustSeal certified repositories. Findings indicate that relationships exist between level of education and professional role and survey respondent attitudes about potential sources of risk and the CoreTrustSeal checklist sections. This poster will examine these findings in greater detail.

Audit Team Communication And Risk In Trustworthy Digital Repository Certification, Rebecca D. Frank, Jessica Wylie

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper aims to investigate the Trustworthy Repositories Audit & Certification (TRAC) process by examining the communication practices and risk communication dynamics among auditors during the audit. Through an in-depth, qualitative analysis of the audit process and the interactions between auditors, this paper provides valuable insights into the importance of diverse backgrounds, effective communication, and consensus building in the assessment of TRAC checklist requirements. Furthermore, the paper highlights potential areas of improvement within the audit process, addressing concerns related to disagreements, reliance on leadership, and the comprehensiveness of risk identification and communication.

Repository Staff Perspectives On The Benefits Of Trustworthy Digital Repository Certification, Rebecca D. Frank

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper reports on the results from a qualitative study that asks whether and how staff members from TRAC certified repositories find value in the audit and certification process. While some interviewees found certification valuable, others argued that the costs outweighed the benefits or expressed ambivalence towards certification. Findings indicate that TRAC certification offered both internal and external benefits, such as improved documentation, accountability, transparency, communication, and standards, but there were concerns about high costs, implementation problems, and lack of objective evaluation criteria.

Designated Community: Uncertainty And Risk, Rebecca D. Frank, Laura Rothfritz

School of Information Sciences -- Faculty Publications and Other Works

Purpose: This article explores the tension between the concept of a Designated Community as a foundational element in Trustworthy Digital Repository certification and curators’ uncertainty about how to interpret and apply this concept in practice.

Design/methodology/approach: This research employs a qualitative research design involving in-depth semi-structured interviews with stakeholders in the Trustworthy Digital Repository Audit and Certification process.

Findings: Our findings indicate that stakeholders in the audit and certification process viewed their uncertainty about how to apply the concept of a Designated Community in the context of an audit as a source of risk for digital repositories and their collections. …