Digital Preservation

The practice of storing human knowledge in electronic formats has forever changed the way librarians and archivists think about the collection and preservation of the cultural record. In contrast to our lengthy experience with paper documents, today we face new challenges as we safeguard from technological obsolescence and media decay the integrity of digital assets. The University Library aggressively creates and acquires electronic collections, but these holdings are as vulnerable as sand castles on a beach unless protected by digital preservation. Access to digital objects is as short lived as the next technological wave. Technology waves therefore are a direct challenge to the Library's mission to be a custodian of human knowledge. These lectures touch on the lengthy discussion behind digital preservation and the preservation of human knowledge for future generations.