Digital Preservation
The 21st century information professional needs to be equipped to develop strategies to deal with the continuing access to digital material. The complex issue of maintaining digital continuity requires an understanding of both the administrative and technical issues involved.
The module is intended to provide you with the theoretical knowledge and skills you require to develop and administer a digital preservation programme. The drivers for digital preservation will be considered, including the evidential role digital records can play in business administration and court cases. An understanding of the challenges involved in preserving different digital formats, along with composite, compound or constantly updated material will be established. The characteristics of digital objects are explored in detail with reference to: their significant properties; the relationship between content and metadata; and the need to preserve links between the associated parts. The use of models and standards, such as the DCC Curation Lifecycle Model and the OAIS Reference Model, to develop administrative and technical strategies will be examined, along with case studies from international projects and research groups. The role of support agencies such as the Digital Curation Centre and the Digital Preservation Coalition, in pushing forward the digital preservation agenda, will be examined. We will reflect upon the role of institutional repositories and the developments in the open access movement and how they can support long-term digital preservation.