In brief:

1. Download a copy of ISO 16363 and review it
2. Decide on which parts of your repository should be involved in an audit and focus on those parts. For example think whether you would claim to preserve all your repository’s holdings or is your focus limited to preserving some specific items.
3. Download a copy of the Self-Assessment Template for ISO 16363.
   Click here to download
   and fill it in. The examples and discussion in ISO 16363 will help.
   • For each metrics explain why you believe that your repository satisfies, or partially satisfies, it and provide or point to some evidence to support your claim. In some cases:
     • You may need to write some new documentation
     • You need to make some improvements to your processes. This may require additional time and resources.
       • An audit will check whether you have missed things so it is probably better to continue the process rather than waiting until you think everything is perfect!
     • You may realise that some of your repository’s holdings should be excluded from consideration because for one reason or another you cannot claim to preserve them.
   • Determine what resources (additional or reallocated) are required to achieve success.
4. You should incorporate findings from previous audits conducted of the repository. These could include information technology security audits, ISO 9000 suite audits, quality assurance audits, risk assessments, and similar evaluations.

More details:

• After reviewing each of the metrics specified in ISO 16363, begin identifying the titles of existing documents that describe policies, procedures, and practices relevant to the standard.
• Open the spreadsheet, Self-Assessment Template for ISO 16363, and read each metric.
• For each metric, in the column labeled, “Brief Description of Evidence”, of the Self-Assessment Template for ISO 16363, record the id numbers/short titles of the documents that serve as evidence that the repository is complying with the requirement that is described within a particular row of the spreadsheet. Provide a more detailed description of the documents under the Reference tab of the spreadsheet
• For each metric, in the column labeled, “Repository Explanation”, of the Self-Assessment Template for ISO 16363, record a brief explanation of how the repository utilizes the evidence, previously described, to attain compliance with the metric. Please answer in complete sentences, with references to documentation as necessary.
• Present the completed Self-Assessment Template for ISO 16363 to members of the repository management team and key staff members to verify that the correct documents are listed as evidence for each metric and that the explanation, which describes how the repository utilizes the evidence to meet each metric, is correct. Please ensure that explanations and terminology are consistent when metrics have been answered by different departments and staff members.
• Request corrections and suggestions from the repository management team and from key staff members for improving the information recorded within the completed Self-Assessment Template for ISO 16363.
• Revise the Self-Assessment Template for ISO 16363 to record the corrections and improvements suggested by the repository management team and by key staff members.
• Review the entire Self-Assessment Template for ISO 16363 to identify any metrics that have not been completed.
• For each metric that has not been completed, review ISO 16363, to understand the metric, and discuss the metric with the repository management team and key staff to identify the titles of the evidence documenting how the metric is being met and describe how the repository is using the documents to meet the metric.
• Repeat the review process with the repository management team and key staff members to correct and improve the description of how each metric is being met in the Self-Assessment Template for ISO 16363.

HOW PTAB CAN HELP?

PTAB members have been organizing workshops and participating in other training opportunities and conferences to keep the digital preservation community informed about ISO 16919 and ISO 16363. Please check the list of training courses and other resources.