Data Management
Information that develops with the work, supports the team and remains useful after handover.
Cues, component lists, drawings, recordings and working notes are part of a production’s everyday work. Data Management gives this material a shared structure so the team can find what it needs, follow changes and use the information in its creative and technical decisions.
The service brings documentation planning and ongoing data management together, from understanding the work and agreeing what to record to preparing the material for archival handover.
When to begin
Starting during research or development allows documentation to become part of the team’s working methods. For a production already underway, the studio reviews the existing material, identifies gaps and agrees what can be done within the available time.
Planning the record
Conversations with the makers establish the work’s context, the decisions that need to be documented and what future users will need to understand. The studio agrees what to gather, when and by whom, alongside the relevant standards, intended uses and permissions. Artistic decisions remain with the creative team.
This plan is translated into practical arrangements: file structures, naming conventions, formats, revision rules and requirements for the production database. Where drawings or recordings are also commissioned, their identifiers and technical requirements are coordinated with the same plan.
Working with the production
The studio builds and maintains the agreed database and file structures around the team’s working methods. Related information stays connected: a component list can point to the relevant drawing, while a cue record can refer to the recording of a particular performance.
As the work changes, current files remain identifiable and earlier versions traceable. Dates, contributor credits and technical descriptions explain what each item contains and how it relates to the production. File integrity checks help detect accidental changes or corruption during copying, storage and transfer.
Rights documentation is gathered alongside the material. Permissions, restrictions and outstanding clearances are recorded with the items they concern.
Preparing the handover
The studio assembles the agreed files, metadata and supporting documentation into an archival package. Its contents are checked against the scope, file integrity is verified and any gaps or unresolved issues are recorded.
The OAIS reference model, ISO 14721, guides this preparation. The package structure and transfer arrangements are agreed with the receiving archive. The accompanying documentation explains how the material is organised and what is needed to interpret and continue caring for it.
Typical deliverables
The scope is agreed for each project and may include:
Planning
Research dossier — The work’s concept, references and context, including the qualities its documentation needs to convey.
Documentation plan — What will be documented, when and by whom, with priorities, standards and intended uses identified.
Project information framework — File structures, naming conventions, formats and rules for connecting information and tracking revisions.
Rights map and clearance plan — The permissions needed for the proposed uses, with responsibilities for obtaining them.
Technical specifications — Requirements for the production database and, where commissioned, the models and recording workflows that will connect to it.
During production
Production databases and data systems — Systems built around the project’s information and maintained as the work develops.
Organised files and media — Files with consistent naming, traceable versions and records of integrity checks.
Descriptive and technical metadata — Information identifying the material, its contributors, context, technical details and relationships to other records.
Rights documentation — Permissions and supporting records linked to the relevant material, including restrictions and unresolved clearances.
At handover
Archival package — The agreed files, metadata and supporting documentation, checked and prepared for transfer to the receiving archive.
ITS PRINCIPLE, ON THE METHOD PAGE
The work and its record develop together
ITS TERMS, DEFINED IN THE GLOSSARY
Documentation plan · Information framework · Rights documentation · Production database · Metadata · Archival package