Digital Curation/Digital Archiving: A View from the National Archives of Australia

Digital Curation/Digital Archiving: A View from the National Archives of Australia

Archives

This article discusses the importance of differentiating between the terms digital archiving and digital curation and explains how the obfuscation of these phrases can limit the necessary resources that must be given to digital archiving practices. Cunningham expresses a frustration with the way that many use digital archiving and curation interchangeably. According to Cunningham, digital curation is a term that is used to connect different professions relating to the collection or preservation of digital information. These can include data management, digital librarianship, and digital archiving. However, the constant use of this umbrella term undermines the important differences between the fields of work. Digital libraries and museums focus on the acquiring and displaying of digital texts. Whereas, digital archives prioritize the collection of information, providing the context of this information, and documenting the relationships between the material in the collection. Because of these priorities, digital archivists must intervene in the “creation and management” of digital files, rather than just accumulating existing information. Cunningham uses the National Archives of Australia (NAA) to demonstrate the level of intervention that is necessary. The NAA utilized assistance from the Australian government to establish standards for digital archives and provided long-term training for existing archivists in using emerging computer technologies. These all functioned to create a more efficient and effective archiving system.

Cunningham, Adrian

2008

Rahman, Sabiha

Journal Article

Cunningham, Adrian. "Digital Curation/Digital Archiving: A View from the National Archives of Australia." The American Archivist 71, no. 2 (2008): 530-43. www.jstor.org/stable/40294529.