Sample interview questions: How do you ensure the authenticity and integrity of digital materials within an archive?
Sample answer:
Ensuring Authenticity and Integrity of Digital Materials in an Archive:
- Establish Authentication Mechanisms: Implement cryptographic hash functions (e.g., SHA-256) to generate unique identifiers that represent the digital object’s content. These hashes serve as digital fingerprints to detect any unauthorized alterations.
- Maintain Provenance Records: Document the history of digital objects, including their origins, modifications, and preservation actions. Provenance records provide evidence of the object’s authenticity and integrity.
- Implement Access Controls: Limit access to digital materials based on user roles and permissions. Restrict editing and deletion capabilities to authorized individuals to prevent unauthorized changes.
- Monitor for Integrity Breaches: Regularly perform integrity checks using hash functions to compare the current state of the object with its original or previously verified version. Any discrepancies indicate potential tampering.
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