Sufficiency or Excess

This paper addresses the lack of published work on the preservation of digital materials within European film heritage institutions (FHIs). 1 In the long-term, technological change might have relevant consequences, on the sustainability of film preservation, affecting the ability to write film history and experience cultural memories. Although there is general awareness of the complexity and the cost of maintenance of digital preservation infrastructures, we have little knowledge of what specifically film heritage institutions are doing to address these challenges. Based on elite interviews with leading film archivists and analysis of relevant policy documents, this paper shows that FHIs are actively engaging with technological and institutional change and implementing valuable initiatives. However, this paper confirms that, roughly 10 years since the widespread of digital cinema distribution, FHIs are generally still striving to provide long-term sustainable and trustworthy solutions to safeguard the digital materials that they are acquiring or creating via digitisation. Although some institutions have built fairly reliable infrastructures, problems still arise from the instability of the information technology sector and from its persistent strategies of planned obsolescence.

The i2010 digital libraries initiative: Europe's cultural and scientific information at the click of a mouse

For over twenty years public institutions and foundations committed in cultural heritage curation and preservation worked up methodologies, strategies and techniques for long-term digital preservation of digital resources. Thanks to a relevant number of initiatives and services carried on by international institutions and specialized agencies, public and private libraries reached a high level of awareness in this field which requires continuous adaptation due to the constant evolution of publishing industry and the rapid emergence of Open Science. After a quick review of digital preservation milestones, this article looks at some emerging trends and issues which characterize the constant transformation of digital preservation landscape. Dynamic generated digital contents and Open Science to fulfil findability, accessibility, interoperability and reuse (FAIR) of digital assets are engaging new challenges for existing digital preservation services. Digital curation and digital preservation are deeply merged and proceed in parallel to assure long-term usage of digital resources and data. How to select and deploy digital preservation platforms is another complex area where Cloud services can offer the opportunity to reduce the costs of technical infrastructures maintenance and management. Policy and decision making institutional levels need more awareness to draw up digital preservation strategies and to activate services to assure digital contents and data long-term access and reuse. Finally the paper suggests to promote “digital preservation by design” as a new base rule to be applied since the conception of every project and initiative in the cultural heritage, scientific and academic contexts.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the extent to which digital preservation facilitate the implementation of electronic government, open data and the right to information.Design/methodology/approachA case study research which chronicles the link between transparency and data availability. It makes use of a theoretical framework based on the open archival information system to analyse, explain, clarify and justify the application of open data, electronic government and the right to information.FindingsThe paper argued that e-government, open data and the RTI will remain elusive if a digital preservation infrastructure is not pursued. Within the context of e-government, the paper adumbrated that government agencies can incorporate e-government legislations into their digital preservation activities, precisely because the relationship between digital preservation and e-government have always been symbiotic. It alluded to the fact that an obligation will be placed on all public authorities and private agencies covered by the RTL law to create, keep and organise an effective and efficient system of record keeping, so as to give meaning to the right to information when citizens apply for information.Practical implicationsFuture research should examine closely the implication of open data government within the context of digital preservation. Whilst digital preservation looks forward to the longevity of digital records and its accessibility, open data focusses on the utility of these records through online services, reuse and distribution for the purposes of transparency and citizens’ participation.Originality/valueThe application of digital preservation to open data in this paper appears to be more relevant at a time when most governments of the world are striving to obtain data to fight poverty, achieve universal primary education, fight HIV and foster maternal health. Its originality can further be established from the symbiotic relationship between digital preservation and electronic government, open data and the right to information.

This paper shows how using emulation technologies to simulate obsolete computer systems can play an integral role in the digital preservation of information. The combination of state-of-the-art emulation as a service technology with an off-the-shelf digital preservation platform can make the process straightforward for the end user. The emulation of obsolete hardware and software environments to enable information to be read, and to facilitate interaction in a way that simulates the original user experience, is a well-established part of digital preservation solutions. Excellent tools have been developed to work with emulators, but these have remained in the research domain rather than being exploited at scale. This paper explores how an emulation framework has been added to an existing digital preservation infrastructure, enabling information extracted from obsolete hardware to be held in a digital preservation system at Yale University Library (YUL), and linked to an appropriate emulator. This enables YUL to recreate the user experience of interacting with content using the original software quickly and easily. This paper shows why emulation is required and how the integration of these technologies offers the prospect of large-scale emulation as a service linked to real preserved data. It will also examine the next steps needed to make this a reality.

University archives conduct digital preservation to provide access to their valuable digital materials. This comparative study explores digital preservation practices and challenges encountered at doctoral universities with a very high research activity (R1), doctoral universities with a high research activity (R2), and doctoral/professional universities (D/PU) in the United States that were listed on the 2021 edition of the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. A total of 141 archivists at these institutions completed an online survey about the important aspects of digital preservation including staffing, digital preservation systems and tools, National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA) assessment, funding, infrastructure, and collaboration. Statistical analyses reveal some differences across the archives examined in many of the digital preservation aspects such as staffing, systems and tools, and financial needs. Staffing and funding are the most problematic digital preservation challenges facing university archives. Based on the findings of this study, the authors address key questions for future research.

Unlike archiving most other artifacts and objects, film preservation has always been heavily dependent on industry practice. The complicated and vast machinery involved in shooting, duplication, processing and projection of new films has been the same ones used for preserving and presenting film heritage. The recent shift from analogue to digital technology in capture, post-production and distribution of cinematographic works has led to the biggest challenges ever faced by the global archive community. The digitization of heritage films has the potential of providing access on an unprecedented scale, as new platforms have emerged to facilitate access and the fact that digital copies are not subject to same wear and tear as analogue film elements. But there are severe financial, legal, curatorial and technological challenges to overcome in order to fulfill this potential. The industrial shift to digital technology has led not only to dwindling photochemical laboratory capacity, film stock supply and 35mm projection equipment, which threatens the preservation and access to film heritage in original formats, but also to declining demand for scanning equipment, resulting in the fact that the window of opportunity for high-quality digitization of analogue films is already closing. Unless necessary funding is put in place very soon, 115 years of film heritage may become forever inaccessible in the future.

There is a crisis in the publication and archiving of archaeological field data in Europe. Computerized data are more fragile than paper archives but also more accessible via the Internet. This article explores the role of the Archaeology Data Service and examines some of the issues raised by the collection of digital data and their dissemination online and the implications for the future of archaeological publication. It discusses approaches to digital data preservation, the development of archival standards and ways of encouraging reuse. It explores the development of distributed online catalogues and archives and the need for metadata standards for cataloguing resources. Finally, it considers the role of XML as an emergent technology and introduces the European ARENA project which is developing a digital preservation and access infrastructure.

There is a crisis in the publication and archiving of archaeological field data in Europe. Computerized data are more fragile than paper archives but also more accessible via the Internet. This article explores the role of the Archaeology Data Service and examines some of the issues raised by the collection of digital data and their dissemination online and the implications for the future of archaeological publication. It discusses approaches to digital data preservation, the development of archival standards and ways of encouraging reuse. It explores the development of distributed online catalogues and archives and the need for metadata standards for cataloguing resources. Finally, it considers the role of XML as an emergent technology and introduces the European ARENA project which is developing a digital preservation and access infrastructure.

The preservation of indigenous medicinal knowledge is increasingly critical in Nigeria, where traditional healing practices play a significant role in healthcare, particularly in rural areas. This study explores the role of digital information systems in preserving this knowledge, addressing the ethical, cultural, and technical challenges associated with digitization. Using a qualitative research approach, the study involved a purposive sample of 25 participants, including traditional medicine practitioners, librarians, and information scientists. Data were collected through document analysis, expert interviews, and case studies of community-based digital preservation initiatives. The findings reveal that digital information systems offer significant benefits, such as improved organization, storage, and accessibility of indigenous medicinal knowledge. However, challenges such as intellectual property rights, cultural misappropriation, and infrastructural deficits hinder effective preservation efforts. Libraries and information professionals are identified as key facilitators, providing curatorial support, capacity building, and advocacy for ethical standards in digital preservation. .The implications of these findings highlight the need for policies that protect intellectual property rights, increased investment in digital infrastructure, and genuine community participation in preservation initiatives. The study concludes that a culturally sensitive and collaborative approach is essential for the ethical and sustainable preservation of indigenous medicinal knowledge. Key recommendations include the development of clear legal frameworks, the use of multimedia tools to capture cultural context, and the strengthening of libraries' roles in digital preservation. This research provides valuable insights for policymakers, librarians, and indigenous communities, contributing to the broader discourse on preserving cultural heritage in the digital era.

Digital infrastructure distribution inequities pose a major global challenge, blocking access to education, workforce development, and economic possibilities, specifically affecting developing nations. As a result, understanding how digital infrastructure influences human capital development has gained importance for nations that aim to eliminate digital disparities. This study investigates the effect of digital technology infrastructure on human capital development in Nigeria, using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) framework to assess the effect of digital infrastructure, economic growth, trade openness and population on human capital development. Analysis of both short-term and long-term digital infrastructure effects on human capital development is based on secondary data that spans from 1986 to 2022. The results show that digital infrastructure exerts statistically positive long-term effects on Nigeria's human capital development. However, short-term disruption was noticed in the first lag, where digital infrastructure showed a negative effect, while the third lag exhibited positive and significant effects. The study concluded that digital infrastructure exerts significant positive and long-term effects on human capital development in Nigeria. Therefore, the study recommends that Government policy needs to focus on building broadband infrastructure networks in areas with limited coverage, such as rural zones, through public-private partnerships with telecom providers, and there is a need to reduce internet service costs by implementing supportive regulations and infrastructure subsidies, which will expand digital learning access as well as create skilled Nigerian workers. These strategic interventions will boost the long-term effect of digital infrastructure on human capital growth and position Nigeria for better economic results in the digital economy.

This study investigates how global city characteristics shape the acceptance of non‐mainstream cultural goods—focusing on K‐pop—as they diffuse across digital platforms. While prior research emphasizes fandom, soft power or media strategies, this research highlights the role of urban infrastructure in cultural globalization. Global cities, with their high levels of connectivity, digital infrastructure and cosmopolitanism, serve as hubs for transnational cultural flows. Drawing on international business, marketing and media studies, the study theorizes that four urban factors—Korean foreign direct investment (FDI), diaspora presence, ICT infrastructure and educational attainment—positively influence K‐pop popularity. It furthers proposes that these effects vary by platform: YouTube's visual, algorithm‐driven environment may amplify the effects of FDI and ICT, while Spotify's audio‐focused, user‐curated model may be more influenced by diaspora and education. Using rare‐event logistic regression on data from 3786 K‐pop hits across 710 US cities (via YouTube and Spotify), the study finds robust support for these hypotheses. Overall, it offers a new perspective on the intersection of urban infrastructure and digital platforms in facilitating the global spread of cultural products, with K‐pop servicing as a revealing case of how emerging‐market content circulates in the contemporary media landscape.

The Parliamentary Archives is responsible for preserving and providing access to the historical records of the UK Parliament, a collection of national, and indeed international, importance which encompasses a wide range of digital content, created and used in an ever changing environment. Since 2010 a staged project has led to the successful implementation of an operational digital repository. The transition from project to production allows the Parliamentary Archives to reflect on the organisation’s progress in digital preservation. However, the deployment of a production digital repository also allows the Parliamentary Archives to outline future goals. The project has demonstrated the viability of implementing digital preservation infrastructure. The challenge remains to embed digital preservation as a business as usual activity.

The preservation of physical materials has traditionally connected users to content. Today libraries face new challenges as they address mission-critical digital preservation. To achieve long-term preservation of e-resources, libraries need to: act now to be a part of at least one e-journal preservation program; recognize that digital preservation requires multiple methodologies; and recognize that the scale of the challenge requires multiple actors. Portico, which provides robust digital preservation of electronic scholarly resources, is one element of the emerging digital preservation infrastructure. Portico is a community-based, third party archive that brings together scholarly publishers and libraries from around the world.

This chapter provides a framework for using the principles of environmental and resource economics to redefine students' understanding of markets, efficiency, equity, fairness, productivity, and government. We illustrate the inextricable links between the study of economics and the study of the environment, and it ends with a rather striking realization: we have been teaching the principles of economics incorrectly. Without the principles of environmental and resource economics, the principles of economics are incomplete, and the consequences of failing to recognize this have led to misled students, poor decision making, bad policies, and catastrophic outcomes.