Sustaining accessibility of information through digital preservation: A literature review

Abstract

Today valuable business, scientific and cultural information is created and stored digitally. However, the sustained availability and accessibility of digital information cannot be taken for granted as they are threatened by rapidly changing technologies and the associated risk of obsolete software and hardware. Digital preservation (DP) comprises methods and techniques geared towards securing long-term access to digital information. In this study we undertake a vital step to shed light on the area of DP by conducting a systematic literature review. We analysed 122 publications with respect to various aspects such as drivers, stakeholders or applied research methods. The findings point towards some unsolved organizational issues such as lacking methods to support cost–benefit analysis or DP decision-making. We thus propose a set of research questions based on our findings and suggest a research agenda.