David Underdown
- Roles
- Author
- Researcher
Data Engineer
About
David joined The National Archives in 2005 as a database administrator and soon gained his introduction to digital preservation from supporting our PRONOM registry of file formats and involvement in various projects to refine and update our digital repository system. He has since spent several years as a Senior Digital Archivist and is currently a Data Engineer in the Data Services team in The National Archives' Digital Archiving Department.
Research activity
Since David’s background of a degree in mathematics from Imperial College London and several years working in systems development for a life and pensions company had not really prepared him for working in archives, he used a general interest in First World War history to develop his experience of archival research and archival theory, and this led to some additional work within The National Archives’ First World War centenary programme.
David has also been involved in defining image and metadata specifications for large scale digitisation projects such as First World War Unit Diaries, 1939 Registers and 1921 Census.
His main research project saw a return to his mathematical roots, applying Dynamic Bayesian Networks to modelling digital preservation risk through the National Heritage Lottery Fund supported project ‘Safeguarding the Nation’s Digital Memory’.
Publications
- Case study: using the DiAGRAM tool for digital preservation. Journal of Digital Media Management. Vol. 11, 3 258–270 Henry Stewart Publications 2047-1300 (2023)
- Safeguarding the nation’s digital memory: Towards a Bayesian model of digital preservation risk. Archives and Records, The Journal of the Archives and Records Association. Volume 42, 2021 - Issue 1: Interdisciplinarity and Archives pp58-78.
- Report of the digital preservation expert elicitation workshop held online (28 and 29 April 2020). Project report.
- A Bayesian Model of Digital Preservation Risk for the Disruptive Digital Archive. iPRES 2019. Conference poster.
Contact
If you are interested in collaborating on an academic research project, please get in touch.