Digital Preservation Coalition

Cabinet Papers: Policy as a Measure of Commitment

Digital preservation policies indicate whether an organization is committed to long-term access. Grant giving organizations should request copies of applicant’s digital preservation policies when funding data creation.

In this case note we examine the relationship between policy and practice in digital preservation.  The National Archives has digitised a significant volume of the UK's Cabinet Papers, using techniques and practices that they have developed over many years.  It has considerable expertise in digital preservation. However the measure of their commitment to long term preservation is not so much their undoubted expertise so much as their carefully considered policy framework for the long term management of digital resources. Funders often ask to see policy documents in assessing grant applications: for digitisation grants, or other grants likely to create prolific amounts of new and valuable digital content, it is reasonable to assess their digital preservation policies.

Full text of the case note available [pdf].