Digital preservation

The National Archives is actively engaged in developing its own digital preservation strategy. In a collaborative effort with the Digital Preservation Coalition we are also raising awareness of the risks related to preserving digital material and working towards agreed standards for its long-term preservation.

With the vast pool of digital records being created in the public and private sector we are considering how we along with other advocacy bodies can actively support the archive sector to work towards a systematic approach to preserve and provide access to accessions of digital collections including those created by their governing body. We are also considering how to raise awareness among organisations and individuals that their records will be a valuable asset in our documentary heritage and so need to be managed appropriately.

Our project to begin accessioning and preserving digital records created by central government is called Seamless Flow. Information about the Seamless Flow project and the work of the Digital Preservation unit is available on our website.