Preservation and digital repositories: connections, possibilities, and needs

Abstract

This chapter aims to explore certain aspects of the challenges of digital preservation and digital repositories, including their roles, significance, and associated costs. Employing an essay methodology, it evolves from the author’s reflective discourse, tracing the journey undertaken. Beginning with a necessary delineation of the relationship between digital preservation, digital repositories, and their digital assets, the chapter proceeds to conduct a brief analysis of the perceived needs for these components. These needs primarily encompass organizational aspects (policy, planning, actions), financial considerations (costs), and technological factors (standardization) crucial for supporting digital preservation and repositories. It is noteworthy that digital preservation endeavors to ensure continued access to electronic information and its authenticity, irrespective of the format, software, or hardware used during its production or intended use. This enables long-term utilization without encountering physical, platform-related, legal, heritage, or other constraints. Moreover, digital curation adopts a holistic approach to the data lifecycle, acknowledging its dependency on production contexts and societal needs and necessitating comprehensive planning, management, and business policies—a feat achievable only within an institutional framework dedicated to allocating resources and cultivating competencies for this purpose. Furthermore, the characteristics and/or requirements of digital objects, such as authenticity, reliability, integrity, and usability, must be envisaged across physical, logical, and conceptual dimensions, considering the context from which they originated. This underscores their significance as assets essential for preserving the collective memory of individuals, institutions, and society at large. Consequently, actions outlined in plans supported by policies necessitate continuous investments from entities involved in digital information management. These investments should encompass the risk management of potential loss of crucial information at operational, fiscal, legal, and administrative levels, while also ensuring rights and resilience against external challenges, thus safeguarding institutional memory.