IS DIGITAL PRESERVATION
are multi-faceted and can be grouped into two categories:
- Storage media, due to physical deterioration, mishandling, improper
storage, and obsolescence.
- File formats and compression schemes, due to obsolescence or over-reliance
on proprietary and unsupported file and compression formats.
- Integrity of the files, including safeguarding the content, context,
fixity, references, and provenance.
- Storage and processing devices, programs, operating systems, access
interfaces, and protocols that change as technology evolves (often with
limited backward compatibility).
- Distributed retrieval and processing tools, such as embedded Java
scripts and applets.
Organizational and Administrative Challenges
- Insufficient institutional commitment to long-term preservation
- Lack of preservation policies and procedures
- Scarcity of human and financial resources
- Varying (and asynchronous) stakeholder interests in the creation,
maintenance, and distribution of digital image collections
- Gaps in institutional memory due to staff turnover
- Inadequate record keeping and administrative metadata
- Evolving nature of copyright and fair-use regulations that apply to
2000-2003 Cornell University Library/Research Department