SSP 2008 - Digital Preservation Part 2

Eileen Fenton – Portico

Why worry about digital preservation? E-resources can and do disappear! (about 13% of linked content in articles can’t be found in 27 months, obsolescence due to format/ devices, loss – NASA lost the original moon landing recordings, funding, orphans)

Digital preservation is NOT: reformatting from print to digital for access (digitization doesn’t result in preservation – creates digital object that can be preserved)/ back-up or byte storage on various media/ mirror sites or networks designed for delivery/ carried out within delivery systems

Digital preservation IS: active content management designed to ensure enduring usability, authenticity and accessibility over the very long term – active and ongoing activity, not passive (have to remain actively engaged in object over time, not just scan once and leave alone)

Core requirements for preservation: 3rd party w/ mission to carry out preservation (outside environment object created in)/ sustainable economic model/ technological infrastructure/ clear legal rights with current providers/ compliance with digital standards and best practices

Emerging models: national libraries (should national libs collect e-journals produced outside their countries?) – Natl Lib of Netherlands, British Library/ community supported 3rd party preservation/ networked library efforts

Portico: preserves scholarly literature published in electronic form (born digital and digitized versions) and ensures that materials remain available to future generations – intellectual content (text/tables/images/supplements) available over long term – access to archive kicks in when content isn’t available from any other source (only libs and publishers who participate), publishers can choose to allow post-cancellation access through Portico

Insights: publishers are developing strategies to manage risk and meet lib requirements/ working with multiple partners/cooperative interaction with archival partners//libs actively evaluation preservation options/multilayered strategies//archives must be flexible

Q&A comments:
Digital publishing blurs the lines of what constitutes an “item” – not just what’s between the covers anymore. Includes audio, video, user comments etc now.

Different preservers are taking different approaches, which is good. Helps build more robust collective network for future.

Portico is non-profit with a board from lib/publisher/academic community.