Essential Theory

Metadata

National Information Standards Organization.  Understanding Metadata. 2004

PREMIS [Preservation Metadata:  Implementation Strategies] Editorial Committee.  PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata.  Version 2.1.  January 2011.

Open Archival Information System Reference Model

Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems.  Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System.  CCSDS 650.0-B-1/ISO 14721:2003.  January 2002.

The Open Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model provides the theoretical underpinnings of most electronic records and digital preservation projects and programs today, and anyone who works with electronic records should be familiar with it.  However, it won't tell you how to build real-world, OAIS-compliant systems or how to determine whether a given real-world system is indeed OAIS-compliant.  Moreover, the committee that developed the OAIS Reference Model went out of its way to avoid leaving the impression that the interests -- or terminology -- of any one stakeholder group were being privileged.  As a result, the prose is sometimes stilted and archivists may find some of the terms (e.g., "ingest" is used to discuss the process archivists typically call "accessioning") off-putting.

LaVoie, Brian F.  The Open Archival Information System Reference Model:  Introductory Guide.  Digital Preservation Coalition Technology Watch Series 04-01.  January 2004.
  

If you're new to the Open Archival Information System Reference Model, start here:  LaVoie's overview is straightforward, concise, and covers all of the essentials in considerable detail.

Trusted Digital Repositories

OCLC and Research Libraries Group.  Trusted Digital Repositories:  Attributes and Responsibilities.  May 2002.

An influential theoretical work that identifies the core characteristics of sustainable digital cultural heritage repositories.

OCLC and Center for Research Libraries. Trusted Repositories Audit and Certification: Criteria and Checklist. Version 1.0. July 2007.

A detailed checklist that enables cultural heritage institutions to assess the extent to which their organizational infrastructure, digital object management policies and procedures, and technological and security infrastructures conform to the Trusted Digital Repository model and lays the foundation for third-party certification of Trusted Digital Repository status.

General Reference

PC Magazine Encyclopedia.

Richard Pearce-Moses.  A Glossary of Archival and Records Terminology.  Society of American Archivists.