Selection for digital preservation
| Published date | 01 June 2004 |
| Pages | 119-121 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/07378830410543494 |
| Date | 01 June 2004 |
| Author | Michael Seadle |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Editorial
Selection for digital
preservation
Michael Seadle
The author
Michael Seadle is Editor of
Library Hi Tech
.
Keywords
Archives management, Digital storage, Copyright law
Abstract
This editorial discusses long-term archiving and long-term access
to digital documents, with an emphasis on criteria for selection.
Selecting materials for digital preservation depends on whether
the materials are both valuable and endangered, whether
appropriate digitization procedures and standards for these
materials exist, and whether copyright allows reasonable access
for educational and research purposes.
Electronic access
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Recently I was asked to speak on a panel at the
German Library Congress in Leipzig about “long
term archiving and long-term access to digital
documents”, with an emphasis on criteria for
selection. This issue is less controversial than it was
in 1992, when Anne Kenney and Lynne Personius
wrote their landmark “Study in digital
preservation”. Three of their principal conclusions
were:
(1) Digital image technology provides an
alternative – of comparable quality and lower cost
– to photocopying for preser ving deteriorating
library materials ...
(2) Subject to the resolution of certain problems,
digital scanning technology offers a cost effective
adjunct or alternative to microfilm preservation ...
(3) Digital technology has the potential to enhance
access to library materials (Kenney and Personius,
1992).
Kenney and Personius were also clear that a
number of problems remained, including the need
to institutionalize technology refreshing. Not all of
these problems have been solved, and a few new
ones have been added to the list, such as
establishing “authenticity” in a digital
environment (Smith, 2000).
Nonetheless, digital preservation has grown
increasingly acceptable as librarians begin to realize
that digital preservation has nothing to do with
transient media like tape, CDs or hard drives, but
rather with the ability of systems to make perfect
copies and with the foresight to have enough copies
that no statistically plausible set of failures can
eliminate them all. Projects like LOCKSS (Lots of
Copies Keeps Stuff Safe) from Stanford University
have gone a long way toward making digital
preservation a reality (see Reich and Rosenthal,
2001).Wehave reached a point where the discussion
has shifted from whether digital preservation is
feasible to how to select appropriate materials.
Selecting materials for digital preservation
depends on three criteria:
(1) whether the materials are both valuable and
endangered;
(2) whether appropriate digitization procedures
and standards for these materials exist; and
(3) whether copyright allows reasonable access for
educational and research purposes.
Valuable and endangered
The value of a work represents both an economic
and intellectual calculation, and together these
Library Hi Tech
Volume 22 · Number 2 · 2004 · pp.119-121
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited · ISSN 0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/07378830410543494
Received 7 March 2004
Revised 14 March 2004
Accepted 19 March 2004
119
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