On the Nature and Importance of Archiving in the Digital Age

Abstract

Abstract Digital preservation and archiving stand as grand challenges of the first decade of the 21st century. Our cultural heritage, modern scientific knowledge, and everyday commerce and government depend upon the preservation of reliable and authentic electronic records and digital objects. Issues such as software and hardware obsolescence, media fragility, expensive metadata creation, and intellectual property rights place all of these materials at risk. The archival and computer science professions must come together to solve the complex technical, conceptual, social, legal, and economic challenges that endanger the longevity of all digital objects. Basic archival principles must be built into information creation and management software and information creators must recognize the need to exert responsible custody over the digital information objects they manage. Archiving, and the preservation tools to facilitate it, must become ubiquitous if society is to preserve its memory in the digital age.