PRESERVING THE DIGITAL ARCHIVE

摘要

In most countries it is the law for a copy of every newly published book or journal to be deposited with a major library, so that it can be preserved for future generations. However, as more and more publishing starts to take place on disc or online instead of in print, this traditional system becomes inadequate. In the United States, a draft report has just been published about how to ensure 'continued access indefinitely into the future of records stored in digital electronic form.' It comes from the Task Force on Digital Archiving, which was formed at the end of last year by the Research Libraries Group and the Commission on Preservation and Access, and is composed of people drawn from industry, museums, archives and libraries, publishers, scholarly societies and government. The report begins by confirming the challenge posed — that 40% of US workers now use a computer and that 'virtually all printing and a rapidly increasing amount of writing is accomplished with computers. Professional sound recording is digital, and digital video is on the verge of moving from experimental to practical applications.'