Digital Archiving and Preservation: Present Scenario

Abstract

The vast amounts of information produced in the world are now for a large part digital. The task of managing the ever-increasing digital objects throughout their life cycle and to preserve them in perpetuity becomes more and more complex because of they are fragile, volatile and ephemeral in nature. Their viability depends on technologies that are rapidly and contiouusly changing. Furthermore, as newer digital technologies rapidly appear and older ones are discontinued, information that relies on obsolete technologies soon becomes inaccessible. This paper addresses the present scenario, framework, formats, planning and the systems and projects developed all over world for preservation, the metadata used to manage them. It also discusses the practical considerations necessary to create a digital archive. This article would help Library & Information Professionals (LIP) to navigate this complex new field.