n. (abbr. Paradigm, PARADIGM, or paradigm)a research endeavor based at the Bodleian Library and John Rylands University Library from 2005 to 2007 that investigated the preservation of personal digital archivesParadigm 2007, 1Between January 2005 and February 2007, the Paradigm project explored the issues involved in the long term preservation of personal digital archives using today’s politicians and their personal archives as a testbed.Paradigm 2007, 1–2The Paradigm lifecycle moves through seven key stages from interactions with those creating archival materials; to effecting authentic and secure transfer of materials to archival custody; to processing new accessions and preparing them for archival storage; to preservation monitoring and actions while materials are in archival storage; to preparing materials for researcher access in a reading room; and finally to publishing materials to online digital repositories once rights have expired.Thomas 2007, 1The Paradigm project represents a pioneering effort to begin developing practical solutions to the challenges facing research libraries that wish to continue enriching their archival collections in our increasingly digital times. Paradigm deals exclusively with the archives of individuals—personal archives—and is among the first significant undertakings of its kind.Thomas 2007, 1With the Paradigm project the Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, and John Rylands University Library, University of Manchester, have taken their first practical steps in developing digital curation and preservation capabilities for archival materials. Paradigm has investigated what it means to curate and preserve mixed media, or hybrid, archives containing born digital and more traditional materials.Redwine 2015, 4From 2005 to 2007, the Bodleian Library at Oxford and the John Rylands Library at Manchester undertook the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC)-funded Personal Archives Accessible in Digital Media (PARADIGM) project, a major study that explored the issues in preserving personal digital papers and produced a workbook detailing best-practice guidelines.Chen 2016, 117, fn. 19Two influential projects investigating the preservation of personal digital archives include the Personal Archives Accessible in Digital Media (Paradigm) project, led by the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester from 2005 to 2007, www.paradigm.ac.uk; and Digital Lives, led by the British Library, in partnership with University College London and the University of Bristol, and completed in 2009.
