Preservation
UK Preservation Agencies
Digital Curation Centre (DCC)
Digital preservation involves the management of digital information over time. It is generally considered that the preservation of digital information could require more constant and ongoing attention than preservation of other types of media (Lifecycle Information for E-literature, 2006). A lot of time, money and effort would need to go into preserving the huge amount of data created during the explosion in use of different IT systems over the last few decades. So while we are still able to read our written heritage from several thousand years ago, the digital information created merely a decade ago is in serious danger of being lost, creating a 'digital dark age'.
There is much discussion about, and currently no clear answers to, issues surrounding digital preservation in repositories. There are, however, a number of points that are worth bearing in mind when considering preservation in relation to your repository. Firstly, simply having even the most basic awareness of digital preservation is a step in the right direction. Try to consider developing a preservation policy for your repository.
You might even consider that the repository is about access and therefore not the location to carry out digital preservation activities. Do think about preservation and consult with other agencies for advice.
Preservation Strategies
In 2006, the Online Computer Library Centre (OCLC) developed a four-point strategy for the long-term preservation of digital objects that consisted of:
- Assessing the risks for loss of content posed by technology variables such as commonly used proprietary file formats and software applications
- Evaluating the digital content objects to determine what type and degree of format conversion or other preservation actions should be applied
- Determining the appropriate metadata needed for each object type and how it is associated with the objects
- Providing access to the content
Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (2006). OCLC Digital Archive Preservation Policy and Supporting Documentation, p. 5
There are several additional strategies that individuals and organisations may use to actively combat the loss of digital information.
Refreshing is the principle of transferring data between two types of the same storage medium. For example, you might copy data from an old, worn CD to a new one. This would need to be done periodically because of the potential for physical deterioration of the media.
Migration involves transferring of data to newer system environments, for example making a move from MS Windows to Linux. It might also be converting Microsoft material such as word or excel files to a PDF.
Replication is the idea of creating duplicate copies of data on one or more systems. You might consider backing your repository up at another institution.
Emulation is replicating of functionality of an obsolete system. This might involve re-designing and building some hardware to access data on obsolete storage media.
