Digital Preservation

"Saving" a file is keeping it locally for an undetermined time as it was last saved.

"Preserving" a file is converting a file into an ideal preservation format, verifying its integrity, and storing it in multiple locations with low-access and high-security measures in place to ensure continued access.

• Access to digitized and born-digital objects is technology-dependent
• Technologies can fail or become obsolete
• Less accessibility helps increase the odds of maintaining integrity
• Preservation is the solution to increasing the ability to access material in the future

See Brian Lavoie's DPC Technology Watch Report on the OAIS reference model for detailed information.

Digital Preservation Handbook

Digital Preservation Coalition

NDSA Levels of Preservation

Format Obsolescence: Assessing the Threat and the Defenses

by David S. Rosenthal

Northeast Document Conservation Center

List of digital preservation initiatives