Users of the TDA

Designated Communities of the TDA

The users of the TSLAC TDA include both end-users, such as the general public and TSLAC staff who will be working with and managing the content and repository system.  A crucial feature of a digital repository created and maintained by TSLAC will be providing the various access levels required by the different types of users.  TSLAC staff may need different access levels to some materials than the general public.  TSLAC staff and system administrators will require access to the TSLAC TDA in order to ingest, administer, manage, preserve and access objects and their supporting information and structures.  This will require multiple levels of access to the materials. In addition, a primary goal of the TSLAC Repository is to provide access to the material as an active, regularly used archive, as opposed to a dark archive accessible only under certain exceptions.

As a function of the OAIS framework, and the TRAC and ISO 16363 specifications for Trustworthy Digital Repositories, TSLAC identifies the following designated communities as its core constituency:

1. State government agencies – TSLAC is mandated to collect permanent records that document the activities of state government, and  the Texas Digital Archives (TDA) serves as the  repository for permanent electronic records collected by TSLAC. TSLAC works with state agencies to preserve and provide access to electronic records transferred to the TDA as required by the records retention schedules.
2. Research community – State government produces many valuable research datasets . TSLAC role in preserving these records is to capture, store and make accessible the records by including documentation that provides the full context of the record. The availability of datasets that can be compared over time serves the interest of the creators and researchers.  Providing keyword indexing within publications greatly enhances the usability for all types of research.
3. Family Historians researchers – This community needs access often to records in non-electronic formats through searchable electronic indexes.
4. Legal community – This community is interested in government records that relate to legal issues, while they often use court and legislative records, they also use. the day-to-day records of government that prove the legal function of government, or some violation of rules, regulation, and procedures (i.e. email)
5. Media – This community is interested in records that reflect transparency in government
6. General public not included in previous categories – They make varying use of the e-archive, particularly focusing on photos and records with graphical representations.