Professional Reading Shelf (2 Items) Digital Information--Preservation
Source: OECD Observer "The great digital information disappearing act"
This article was written by Deborah Woodyard, Digital Preservation Coordinator, The British Library. From the article, Simply saving all the bits and bytes is a good start, but it will not necessarily be enough to be able to use the information again in the future. Managing large amounts of data is a considerable challenge also. You need to understand the technical profile of your entire collection, as well as be able to efficiently find a single piece of information within a huge storage system � a needle in a virtual haystack...Preservation needs to be addressed throughout the life cycle of digital material in order to be effective. Appropriate steps must be introduced to acquisition and cataloguing, for example, to ensure the capture and management of technical details and preservation information, and guarantee the digital files are not altered in any way. Ignoring preservation and not performing these tasks at this stage would be like putting a book on the wrong shelf and never being able to find it again, or as bad, storing the book under a water drip. The information may still be between the pages, or in a digital file, but you cannot see or use it anymore.
-- RLG The December, 2003 Issue of RLG DigiNews is Online
Feature articles:
+ PDF/A: Developing a File Format for Long-Term Preservation, by William G. LeFurgy
+ Research Agendas Set Course for Digital Archiving and Long-Term Preservation, by Margaret Hedstrom
The FreePint Family is a family of resources to help information workers be more effective, raise the value of information in their organisations and contribute to success.
'FreePint... provides most of my professional development because it won't come through work and [other resources] just don't cut it.'
FUMSI Forum: Do you have a research question? Post it to the FUMSI Forum, where professionals share Q&A and useful tips on how to Find, Use, Manage and Share Information. It's free.
FreePint Shop:
VIP LiveWire:
