From rescue to long‐term maintenance: preservation as a core function in the management of digital assets

Abstract

Access to this document was granted through an Emerald subscription provided by emerald-srm:368933 [] For AuthorsIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractDigital preservation is currently a major concern for the information management, technological and scientific communities in all domains. It is also critical at the organisational level, with special pressure for all institutions with a responsibility for preservation, such as libraries and archives. This paper provides a brief overview of the main issues in digital preservation, highlighting current research and standards efforts.

Digital libraries and development in Sub‐Saharan Africa

“…There is general agreement among scholars of LIS on the need to ensure that digital libraries continue into the future so that digital objects can be accessed in perpetuity. However debate still ranges on the best archiving practices (Cordeiro, 2004). Yakel (2004) has proposed a number of approaches:Unit‐based digital repository in which the archive is part of the library system and undertakes archiving activities for specific unit within an institution.Institutional digital repository whereby a single archives is set up for the entire institution instead of one for each unit.Trusted digital repository whereby a third institution is given the archiving role.Lor (2005) believes that libraries in the Sub‐Saharan Africa are incapable of archiving digital collections due to the current funding and infrastructural problems in the region.…”

Digital preservation – making the song remain the same

“…Stephens (2005) noted in practical terms, this means that any recordkeeping system, regardless of the particular technology or storage medium employed, should be designed and implemented in a manner such that its operators can demonstrate the integrity of the records if called upon to do so. Digital preservation is a matter that affects a variety of stakeholders (Cordeiro, 2004). The responsibility for such decisions cannot be on the shoulders of archivists and record managers alone.…”

A checklist for evaluating open source digital library software

“…Functions such as automated content acquisition, harvesting and automatic metadata generation, including named entity recognition and automatic subject indexing/classification, make DL maintenance much easier. Next, the DL needs to support preservation standards as well as persistent document identification, so that the transfer of digital materials from one hardware/software configuration to another would not compromise reference citations and other links (Cordeiro, 2004;Hedstrom, 2001). (5) Other requirements.…”