Digital Preservation

The Definition:

Digital Preservation is “the active management of digital content over time to ensure ongoing access.” There is also a separate, but related, concept, addressed by the question, “How do items become digital to begin with?” The answer in short is, items are either “born digital” or they are converted through digitization. “Born digital” is basically an umbrella term for any item that existed originally in digital form.  And these items are now with us, and growing exponentially, on a daily basis!  Some common examples are email and photos taken with a digital camera.  Websites are also included in this category. (Or “web archiving,” as we refer to it on an institutional level). 

-Library of Congress Digital Preservation Newsletter April 2012

2008 - ABC News video about early Library of Congress Digital Preservation efforts

Digital Preservation Cost Models

Digital Preservation and Data Curation Costing and Cost Modelling

Preservation Management
 
Preservation Assessment and Planning
Northeast Document Conservation Center
 
Preservation Budget Planning
Lyrasis

Rescuing Records: Recognizing the Problems of Preserving Documents in Research Collections
Dianne van der Reyden and Diane Vogt-O’Conner, Smithsonian Center for Materials Research
and Education
 
 
 
Service Organizations
 
 
AIC -American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works
 
Heritage Preservation

Regional Alliance for Preservation - Association of Regional Conservation Centers

Society of American Archivists
 

 
Reformatting
 
Managing the Digitisation of Library, Archive and Museum Materials 
The British Library Preservation Advisory Centre (National Preservation Office)
 
Recognizing Digitization as a Preservation Reformatting Method
ARL Preservation Committee.  Chicago: Association of Research Libraries, 2004. 
 
Guidelines: Technical Guidelines for Digitizing Cultural Heritage Materials
FADGI, Still Image Working Group

 Federal Agency Digitization Guidelines Initiatives
Library of Congress 
 
Handbook for Digital Projects:  A Management Tool for Preservation and Access
Northeast Document Conservation Center

Moving Theory into Practice: Digital Imaging for Libraries and Archives
Anne R. Kenney and Oya Y. Rieger

 
 
Conservation Practice for Paper-based Documents 
 
 
The Care and Preservation of Documents and Works of Art on Paper

 
Preservation Reformatting: Digital Technology vs. Analog Technology
Puglia, Steven, National Archives and Records Administration 
 
 
Preservation at Harvard: Digital Preservation: Guidance for Digitizing Images
Harvard University Library

 
Digital Preservation in Practice

North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources- Digital Preservation Best Practices

ALCTS- Minimum digitization Standards - draft
 
Curation Reference Manual
Digital Curation Centre

Digital Preservation Handbook
Digital Preservation Coalition

Digital Preservation Management Tutorial
Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research, University of Michigan

Sustainable Economics for a Digital Planet: Ensuring Long-Term Access to Digital
Information
Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sustainable Digital Preservation and Access

The Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation
Program

 The Open Archival Information System Reference Model: Introductory Guide
Digital Preservation Coalition

 
What is Digital Preservation?
Digital Preservation Europe


 
Preservation organizations
 
American Institute for Conservation of Historic & Artistic Works (AIC)

 
American Library Association: Association for Library Collections & Technical Services:
Preservation 
and Reformatting Section (ALA/ALCTS/PARS)
 
 
 
Center for Conservation of Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA)

 
Conservation Online

 
Council on Library and Information Resources

 
Cornell University Library Preservation Department

 
Getty Conservation Institute


Image Permanence Institute

 
Institute of Museum and Library Services 

 
International Federation of Library Associations
Core Activity on Preservation and Conservation (PAC)
 
 
Library of Congress Preservation Directorate
 
Lyrasis Preservation Leaflets
 
NEDCC  Preservation 101 online course