It’s becoming increasingly apparent that today’s valuable digital resources may lose their safeguards tomorrow due to technological obsolescence and fragility. Long-term digital preservation is an evolving field harnessing emerging technology and best practices to ensure that our shared digital heritage is still accessible and functional in the subsequent years or even centuries. This article is focused on various long-term digital preservation strategies, their application and importance in ensuring our digital resources remain viable irrespective of technological changes.
One noteworthy approach to long term digital preservation is the Emulation strategy. In simple terms, the emulation paradigm creates an environment where older software can run on newer hardware. The principle takes inspiration from software retrocompatibility, where ‘retired’ or ‘obsolete’ software is tweaked to function with newer iterations of systems. In digital preservation, emulators become the bridge connecting these gaps. Organisations like the Software Preservation Network and the Internet Archive are working tirelessly to develop emulators that can save many of our useful older software from oblivion.
Migration is another prevalent strategy in digital preservation. It involves periodically transferring digital resources from outdated formats to current or standardized ones. However, it’s worth noting that migration carries risks too. Data can be lost during the migration process, especially when moving between proprietary formats. Moreover, continuous migration could potentially lead to ‘format fatigue’, whereby each iterative transfer dilutes the quality and information of the original digital object.
Next up is the concept of Digital Archaeology. It can be wittily explained as “the practice of recovering, analysing, documentation and preservation of volatile evidence preserved in the digital media”. While much of digital preservation looks to the future, digital archaeology is fundamentally about retrieving the past—the data layers buried deep within obsolete software, hardware, and media formats. It’s the hands-on approach, which occasionally means soldering, reverse engineering bits of hardware, and cajoling an aging floppy disk to reveal its secrets. The Resurrecting the Dead project is an ideal example of how these methods can work in harmony.
The LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keep Stuff Safe) strategy also deserves mention. Founded at Stanford University Libraries, LOCKSS creates multiple, distributed copies of digital objects to ensure that even if several instances are lost, corrupted, or destroyed, others will still be accessible. This decentralized strategy, enhanced by emerging blockchain technology, is among the most robust against both open and clandestine threats to digital artifacts.
The Persistent Identifier (PID) strategy ensures that digital objects maintain their ‘identify’ in the face of constant technological change. Persistent Identifiers, like PURLs, DOIs, or ARKs, provide a consistent, reliable link to a digital object, even if it regularly migrates to other systems, formats, or even owners. The most effective PIDs should also provide stability in the face of sudden changes in organizational structure or technology.
Digital Forensics is another vital element in long-term preservation that helps ensure data integrity during transfers and storage. It typically means making bit-for-bit copies of digital objects, including any underpinning metadata, and documenting all actions during the transfer and storage process, mainly when working with high-risk or vulnerable digital media. It is crucial to maintain what’s known as the ‘chain of custody’ throughout this process, which records each interaction with the digital object and the responsible parties.
By integrating these strategies, the long-term digital preservation community and professionals have managed to create a comprehensive suite of tools, standards, and practices that can actively counter the threats posed by digital decay. However, digital preservation shouldn’t be considered a ‘one-and-done’ task but rather a continuous, evolving process. It must rise to the challenges posed by the fast-paced and constantly changing nature of digital technology.
Lastly, partnership holds the key to successful long-term digital preservation. Collaborating across disciplines, from IT experts to librarians, archivists, and even data scientists, can significantly mitigate the risks of obsolescence. The Digital Preservation Coalition, Open Preservation Foundation, and National Digital Stewardship Alliance illustrate how collective action can make a real difference.
Long-term digital preservation is an essential element in ensuring that the digital heritage of today doesn’t vanish in the future due to technological obsolescence or degradation. These strategies need to be refined, assimilated, and implemented to ensure the accessibility and usability of essential digital resources for future generations.
