Literary Reviews

London Literary Reviews

Selection for digital preservation by Michael Seadle

Mr. Seadle stressed the value of long-term archiving and access by breaking down three important criteria.
Even while having a criteria, value, endangered, standards and access, the problem of which format to use varies based on the media and has not been standardized. Even if a format begins digitally, software dependencies used to edit may render the file obsolete and unusable. Both the file and the software need to be saved together. While the file may be saved, access is not necessarily granted. Libraries with primarily paper documents have an easier chance of creating standards and procedures that would offer long-term survival chance. Libraries using mostly multimedia collections will have more complex copyright issues and ever changing technology to deal with.


Addressing Digital Preservation: Proposals for New Perspectives by Barateiro

The authors covered the importance of maintaining an object’s access over an extended period of time. While there are threats and vulnerabilities that exist such as changing hardware and software, it is important to protect the authenticity and integrity of the digital object. The standardization processes being created by the Open Archival Information System Reference Model (OAIS) and the Preservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies (PREMIS) are working to close the gap that existed for decades. Identifying and analyzing the risks associated helps to improve the digital preservation techniques that exist while learning the most appropriate time to apply them.


An introduction to digital convergence: libraries, archives, and museums in the information age by Paul F. Marty

Mr. Marty put together a tri-level approach to digitization as they relate to information organizations. While discussing the needs of the three institutions, the roles and responsibilities as they exist in our information age as well as the types of educational programming to prepare future professionals to handle the needs of libraries, archives and museums. Rather than viewing them the organizations individually, it is suggested that they appear as transparent as possible while transcending their traditional, functional boundaries. There will always be challenges but working as a unified effort helps to ease the struggle.


Digital Preservation: A Time Bomb for Digital Libraries by Margaret Hedstrom

As Ms. Hedstrom wrote in her article, libraries and archives must include preservation as one of their core functions. Once again, it is stressed that stable materials should be introduced at the beginning of the creation process. The author mentioned the absolutism and idealism of producing work and viewing them as permanent. The lack of established standards and the rabid speed in which digital works are created, technology changes, strains the preservation process. The preservation requirements vary based on the users of the digital materials as well as the custodians who maintain and distribute the information. Most importantly, if the materials are only preserved and not optimised through metadata, the end users will not receive the full benefits.