“What Do We Mean by Authentic?No Technical Solution for an Undefined TermSlide 3Comparing Apples to Apples. . .Slide 5A Careful DefinitionEnumerating Separate Questions of AuthenticitySteps to Disambiguate the Meaning of AuthenticityDistinguish Objective from SubjectiveSlide 10Unable to Escape AbstractionsA More Careful DefinitionDefinition for Digital DerivativesNote on Transformation FunctionsLossy or AnalogPerformances and Dynamic ObjectsArtifactsNatural EntitiesMaterial Entities and SignalsConclusionThe Authentic Schooner BowdoinThank You Very Much !“What Do We Mean by Authentic?“What Do We Mean by Authentic?What’s the Real McCoy?” ByH.M. Gladney J.L. BennetPresented by Thom Lutkenhouse - Tax Day 2004 - Digital Preservation SeminarD-Lib MagazineJuly/August 2003No Technical Solution for an Undefined TermNo Technical Solution for an Undefined Term"...there are different communities and may be different perceptions in authenticity although there still might be a more generic idea of authenticity. This may lead to different solutions because the requirements are not always the same."-Hans Hofman, Digicult Conference, Barcelona 2002Taken from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july03/gladney/07gladney.html“. . .restrict our statements about authenticity to. . .forms 1 through 9”Comparing Apples to Apples. . . Comparing Apples to Apples. . . " ... Nonetheless, given that a digital information object is not something ... preserved as an inscription on a physical medium, but something that can only be ... reconstructed by using software to process stored inscriptions, it is necessary to have an explicit model or standard that is independent of the stored object and that provides a criterion ... for assessing the authenticity of the reconstructed object." -Kenneth Thibodeau, April 2002Taken from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july03/gladney/07gladney.htmlA Careful DefinitionA Careful Definition“To be authentic a digital document must be whole and undisturbed — that's integrity. It must have originated with the purported author as part of the purported event — that's true provenance.”Enumerating Separate Questions of AuthenticityEnumerating Separate Questions of Authenticity•What do we mean by authentic?•What do we mean by evidence for authenticity?•What kinds of authenticity evidence might be available for something at hand?•How can information producers create such evidence that will be useful long in the future?•What do we mean by authentic?•What do we mean by evidence for authenticity?•What kinds of authenticity evidence might be available for something at hand?•How can information producers create such evidence that will be useful long in the future?•How can such evidence be preserved until it is wanted?•To what extent should a consumer trust a document received and supporting evidence received?•Is the authenticity evidence sufficient for the application in question?•How might evidence be different for different information genres?•How can such evidence be preserved until it is wanted?•To what extent should a consumer trust a document received and supporting evidence received?•Is the authenticity evidence sufficient for the application in question?•How might evidence be different for different information genres?Steps to Disambiguate the Meaning of AuthenticitySteps to Disambiguate the Meaning of AuthenticityFirst, avoid intersecting meanings of quality terms:Taken from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july03/gladney/07gladney.htmlDistinguish Objective from SubjectiveDistinguish Objective from SubjectiveTaken from http://www.dlib.org/dlib/july03/gladney/07gladney.html•Meaning of authenitc should be binary•Definition of digital objects should remain as continuous as possible with existing tradition•Authenticity should not depend on intentions of producers, custodians or consumers•Meaning of authenitc should be binary•Definition of digital objects should remain as continuous as possible with existing tradition•Authenticity should not depend on intentions of producers, custodians or consumersUnable to Escape AbstractionsUnable to Escape Abstractions•“In copyright law, what is essential about a work is a pattern inherent in its reproductive instances”•“The paper and the archive exist in order to provide evidence for the conceptual abstraction”•“In copyright law, what is essential about a work is a pattern inherent in its reproductive instances”•“The paper and the archive exist in order to provide evidence for the conceptual abstraction”A More Careful DefinitionA More Careful DefinitionGiven a derivation statement R, “V is a copy of Y (V=C(Y))”a provenance statement S, “X said or created Y as part of event Z”and a copy function, “C is the identity function I”We say that V has integrity compared to Y if V is identical (bit-by-bit equal) to Y, i.e., V=I(Y).We say that “by X as part of event Z” is a true provenance of V if R and S are true.We say that V is an authentic copy of Y if it has such integrity and true provenance.Definition for Digital DerivativesDefinition for Digital DerivativesGiven a derivation statement R, “V is a copy of Y (V=C(Y))”a provenance statement S, “X said or created Y as part of event Z”and a copy function, “C(y)=Tn(…(t1(y))), with every Tk having an inverse,We say that V has integrity compared to Y if V is related to Y by V = C(Y) =Tn(…(t1(Y))),We say that “by X as part of event Z” is a true provenance of V if R and S are true. We say that V is an authentic copy of Y if it has such integrity and true provenance.Note on Transformation FunctionsNote on Transformation Functions“… the definitions above. . .do not restrict what transformations are allowed. These are users’ subjective choices. Anyone may do as he pleases, at the risk that other people do not accept his output object as an authentic derivative of the input if his choice goes beyond the social conventions for the circumstances.”Lossy or AnalogLossy or AnalogGiven a derivation statement R, “V is a copy of Y (V=C(Y))”a provenance statement S, “X said or created Y as part of event Z”and a copy function, “C(y)=Dn(…(D1(y))), in which some Dk lose informationWe say that V has sufficient integrity relative to Y if V = C(Y) = Dn(…(D1(Y))), and if C conforms to social convention for the genre and circumstances at hand.We say that “by X as part of event Z” is a true provenance