What is Digital document preservation
Digital document preservation is a process by which digital data is preserved in digital form in order to ensure the
usability,
durability and
intellectual integrity of the information contained therein
Need for digital preservation
Vast amount of ‘born-digital’ data, especially in science and engineering
Physical deterioration: medium is vulnerable to deterioration and catastrophic loss.
Digital obsolescence: Digital technology is on a fast track
Digital preservation: issues
data is maintained in the repository without being damaged, lost or maliciously altered;
data can be found, extracted and served to a user;
data can be interpreted and understood by the user; and
the above can be achieved in the long term.
Digital preservation process
Organisational
Managerial and
Technical
Organisational issues
Digital preservation policy
Justification for preservation
Organisational and financial commitment
Preservation of authentic resources and quality control
Metadata creation
High-level identification of roles and responsibilities
Training and education
Managerial issues
Preservation planning
Developing strategy
Taking sole responsibility for preservation
Dealing with IT staff or external preservation service providers
Methods of digital preservation
Bitstream Copying
Durable, Persistent Media
Standards
Migration
Emulation
Encapsulation
Preservation Metadata
Challenges of digital preservation
Technology obsolescence
Absence of established standards, protocols, and proven methods for preserving digital information
technological or economic feasibility of operating on a mass scale
Case study 1: E-mail preservation
Electronic Mail
Now ubiquitous in many business contexts
A mixture of records and other stuff
High-risk if not managed properly:
Loss of accountability, efficiency, public credibility, organisational memory, etc.
There also may be legal and financial consequences
An obvious candidate for the records management approach
Some specific challenges of E-mail
Inappropriate content
For example: spam, personal messages, illegal content
Wide range of attachment types – some will provide preservation challenges of their own
Unclear responsibilities:
Users can be reluctant to ‘manage’ incoming mail
E-mail seen as personal domain, not as organisational property ... this can have consequences …
Approaches to managing e-mail
Developing specific policies for managing email within an organisation
Produce guidance for creators (and others)
Identify the chain of custody through lifecycle
Need to involve all people involved, e.g. creators, managers, records managers, IT staff, etc.
E-mail preservation
Appraisal
Determining what content needs to be preserved
Destruction of transient/unnecessary e-mails
Saving e-mail records independently of the e-mail client
Check that content is complete - comprising message body, headers & attachments
Consider authenticity requirements
Ingest into an organisational EDRMS or repository
Make decisions on appropriate preservation strategies for content and attachments
Selecting a standard format?
Significant properties?