Digital preservation strategy

What key processes form a digital preservation strategy?

The goal for any digital preservation strategy should be to achieve consistency in the management of digital records. To do this the strategy must include:

• a formal means of accepting records, including an agreed standard for file formats and levels of description for the records
• a secure process for transferring records into storage and then managed appropriately (including integrity checks)
• mapping processes to capture the descriptive information into a searchable database linked to the records to allow them to remain discoverable
• a formal means of providing the content of the preserved records to users in the most approprate format for the content of the record
• a rigorous system of monitoring the preservation activities that can produce usable audit data
• the extent to which each process is used will be dependent on the size and the extent of the collection

Where can I learn more?

• OAIS Reference Model
• Cambridge and Glasgow joint project on research data preservation
• Designing Digital Preservation Solutions: A Risk Management-Based Approach
• ASR2: Using METS to keep data and metadata together for preservation