Why Digital Preservation is Important for Everyone
Title
Why Digital Preservation is Important for Everyone
Subject
Web archiving
Description
Traditional information sources such as books, photos and sculptures can easily survive for years, decades or even centuries but digital items are fragile and require special care to keep them useable. Rapid technological changes also affect digital preservation. As new technologies appear, older ones become obsolete, making it difficult to access older content.
This video briefly explains why digital preservation is important for both the private individual and the public cultural heritage institution. Digital content is defined as encoded content represented as text, images, audio recordings and other formats accessible only through computer technology. Preserving digital content for the future so that it is both usable and accessible is challenging for large institutions as well as for individuals. The narrator identifies human error and technological obsolescence as major challenges, and reviews essential preservation strategies to counteract these threats to preservation. He reiterates digital items are extremely fragile, and cautions that special care is needed to keep these items usable. Digital items are also dependent upon technology; again, requiring strategic solutions to maintain availability.
This video briefly explains why digital preservation is important for both the private individual and the public cultural heritage institution. Digital content is defined as encoded content represented as text, images, audio recordings and other formats accessible only through computer technology. Preserving digital content for the future so that it is both usable and accessible is challenging for large institutions as well as for individuals. The narrator identifies human error and technological obsolescence as major challenges, and reviews essential preservation strategies to counteract these threats to preservation. He reiterates digital items are extremely fragile, and cautions that special care is needed to keep these items usable. Digital items are also dependent upon technology; again, requiring strategic solutions to maintain availability.
Creator
Library of Congress
Publisher
Library of Congress
Date
2010-04-01
Contributor
Polk, Victoria
Type
Video Recording
Identifier
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEmmeFFafUs.
Bibliographic Citation
Library of Congress. “Why Digital Preservation is important for Everyone.” (April 2010). Video recording. Accessed June 15, 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEmmeFFafUs.
Files
Collection
Citation
Library of Congress, “Why Digital Preservation is Important for Everyone,” Digital Archiving Resources, accessed January 8, 2025, https://dar.cah.ucf.edu/items/show/64.