Digital preservation systems and technologies in South African academic libraries

Abstract

This study adopted a quantitative research approach by using a survey research design. In South Africa, there are 27 academic institutions, and all these institutions constituted the target population and all were included in the sample of the study. An online questionnaire was used as the data collection instrument and it was emailed to all 27 academic institutions in South Africa. Results:The findings revealed that most academic libraries were adopting new technologies for preserving their digital resources. DSpace, E-print, ETD, digital commons, LOCKSS, DigiTool, Content dm and Archive-IT were noted as technologies that were commonly used by many academic institutions in preserving their digital resources. Conclusion:Although different technologies are being implemented to support digital preservation in academic libraries, these institutions should make sure these systems are compatible with archival standards and should also account for technological changes so that the entities may continue to be migrated to newer platforms as needed to avoid technological obsolescence.

Embedding digital preservation strategies in the management of institutional repositories in South Africa

“…Despite the important and rapid growth of research in IRs, few efforts have been made to systematically review the embedding of digital content regarding IRs and its pros and cons in digital preservation in South African universities (Masenya & Ngulube, 2018;Masenya & Ngulube, 2021;Dale & Gore, 2010;Henok & Yule, 2019). According to Masenya and Ngulube (2021), the majority of institutions implementing digital content management systems do not place a strong priority on long-term preservation of digital materials. As a result, it is obvious that many academic institutions still do not prioritise long-term preservation.…”

“…In 2005, the Carnegie Corporation of New York gave the UCT library, along with the libraries at the University of Witwatersrand and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, a $2.5 million grant for a three-year project aimed at promoting research and library staff development at these universities (Macha & De Jager, 2011). As a result, numerous sorts of digital materials have been digitised and made publicly accessible, according to Masenya and Ngulube (2021). Open-source software like DSpace, ETD-db and Eprints are used in the IRs to manage and preserve digital scholarly outputs such as scholarly publications, pre-prints, post-prints and digital versions of theses and dissertations.…”

“…According to the literature, most of the academic institutions in South Africa built IRs to manage and preserve scholarly outputs in their libraries ( Van de Venter & Pienaar, 2008) and to provide a central storage location for the institution's intellectual production and boost visibility of research output (Masenya & Ngulube, 2021). It was also noted that new methods and technologies were being developed in academic libraries to enable these institutions to generate, capture, classify, store, preserve, track, and retrieve digital resources in any format.…”

“…On the other hand, Manaf (2007) points out that a well-established infrastructure is important in ensuring that crucial digital documents are archived and stored for long-term access. Masenya and Ngulube (2021) add that the digital preservation unit's system designers should build or develop technologies that facilitate long-term preservation in support of IRs.…”

Resource Repositories and linking resources: An exploratory study

“…Elaboration on IRs, LRRs and a site that links resources to each other When considering the digital preservation of languages or resources, online repositories are naturally an option (Masenya & Ngulube 2021). In Pinfield et al (2014) the growth of more specifically open access repositories between 2005-2012 is discussed.…”