The PAT project is a collaboration between the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) and several archival institutions across the United States. The goal is to conduct case studies that test the ability to implement the SDSC's Storage Resource Broker (SRB) data grid (http://www.npaci.edu/DICE/SRB) technology using a variety of archival collections. This is an optimal opportunity to test a community model for electronic records management, with archival and technological functions practically and appropriately allocated in a distributed network.

The processes that will be automated are: appraisal, accessioning, arrangement, description, preservation, and access. The initial proposed test sites for this project were the (1) Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries, the (2) Ohio Historical Society, the (3) Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives, the (4) Minnesota Historical Society, and the (5) Stanford Linear Accelerator Archives and History Office. Since a variety of functions and institutions will be involved in these case studies, this project can test and evaluate the best available means to implement a cost-effective application and architecture for preserving electronic records.

Additional partners include the (1) California State Archives, the (2) Kansas State Historical Society, the (3) University of Illinois Urbana Champaign Archives, the (4) Yale Manuscripts and Archives, and the (5) UCLA Center for Information as Evidence. We welcome working with additional sites and partners.

• Implementation and testing of grid technology architecture at each participating archives.
• Evaluation of costs and benefits of the PAT model, broken down by all participating institutions.
• Comparative analysis of the potential for improved access and use value of the collections.

• Project Summary
• Full Proposal
• 1st Interim Report
• Final Report

• Keeping History Alive: SDSC Participates in Persistent Archive Testbed (April 9, 2004)

• California State Archives Seminar, State Archives, Sacramento, 7-14-2004.
  • "A Continuum of Preservation Collaborations with State and Federal Agencies" -- Discussion of strategies for preserving electronic records
  • Publishing and Preserving Data -- Discussion of strategies for managing electronic records
• California Digital Repository Planning Meeting, California State Library, Sacramento, 7-15-2004.
  • Communities, Standards, Technologies for Preservation -- Technology solutions (access and preservation)
• Society of American Archivists (SAA) Annual Meeting, New Orleans, 8-18-2005.
  • Persistent Archives Testbed (PAT) -- part of the "Three Working Models of Digital Archives" session.