27-10-2012, 01:49 PM
Preservation of and Permanent Access to Electronic Information Resources
ABSTRACT
The rapid growth in the creation and dissemination of electronic information has emphasized the digital environment’s
speed and ease of dissemination with little regard for its long-term preservation and access. To some extent, electronic
libraries, that is those libraries that are moving toward provision of materials in electronic form, have been swept up in this
attitude as well. Electronic information includes a variety of object types such as electronic journals, e-books, databases, data
sets, reference works, and web sites, which are born digital or which have their primary version in digital form. But, electronic
information is fragile in ways that traditional paper-based information is not. Electronic information is more easily corrupted
or altered, intentionally or unintentionally, without the ability to recognize that the corruption has occurred. Digital storage
media have unknown life spans. Some formats, such as multimedia, are so closely linked to the software and hardware
technologies that they cannot be used outside these proprietary environments. Aggravating this situation is the fact that the
time between creation and preservation is shrinking, because technological advances are occurring so quickly. The Open
Archival Information System (OAIS) Reference Model provides a framework for discussing the key areas that impact on
digital preservation - the creation of the electronic information, the acquisition of and policies surrounding the archiving of
resources, preservation formats, preservation planning including issues of migration versus emulation, and long-term access
to the archive s contents. Many projects, worldwide, have contributed to the growing collection of best practices and standards.
The numerous stakeholder groups involved in preservation of electronic resources, including creators (authors), publishers,
librarians and archivists, and third-party service providers, are working more closely to build a cohesive and sustainable
response to the issues. An issue of continuing stakeholder interest is the economic model(s) that will provide ongoing support
to electronic preservation. Despite the remaining issues, local institutions managing electronic libraries can become involved.
They are encouraged to monitor developments and projects in the field, to raise awareness of the need for preservation within
their institutions, to consider preservation and long-term access issues when negotiating licenses for electronic resources, and
to look for opportunities to begin small projects at the local level.