We are delighted to announce that English Heritage has become the latest organisation to join the Digital Preservation Coalition as an associate member.

English Heritage is the lead body for the conservation of England’s historic environment. The research and documentation which EH carries out and which it funds in the wider sector to support this remit is increasingly created and disseminated in digital formats, sometimes using techniques which are at the cutting edge of new technologies. It is crucial that this work remains accessible to future generations so that it can continue to inform understanding and management of the historic environment. Read more about why English Heritage has joined here.

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) has awarded two Scholarships on the Digital Preservation Training Programme (DPTP).

A panel of judges selected Grant Young, Digital Preservation Specialist at Cambridge University Library and Vicky Phillips, Digital Standards Manager at Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru / National Library of Wales from a strong shortlist. Applicants were judged against three main criteria: the role that DPTP would play in career development; the benefits to their organisation from attendance and the extent to which the applicants job profile within the organisation pertains to digital preservation. Applications were open to DPC members and associates.

DPC What's new in digital Preservation - Issue 20

January 2009 - April 2009

To open PDFs you will need Adobe Reader

Compiled by Najla Rettberg for the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) and reviewed by PADI, The National Library of Australia

1 June 2009

This is an archived issue of What's New.

Also available as a print-friendly PDF (273KB).

Known problem links in online versions and PDFs are disabled (or updated when the issue is current) but it is not always possible to annotate the amendments in PDFs with a date or other information which may appear in the online version.

DPC What's new in digital preservation - Issue 19

September 2008 - December 2008

To open PDFs you will need Adobe Reader

Compiled by Najla Rettberg for the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) and reviewed by PADI, The National Library of Australia

30 January 2009

This is an archived issue of What's New.

Also available as a print-friendly PDF (241KB).

Known problem links in online versions and PDFs are disabled (or updated when the issue is current) but it is not always possible to annotate the amendments in PDFs with a date or other information which may appear in the online version.

DPC What's new in digital preservation - Issue 18

March 2008 - August 2008

To open PDFs you will need Adobe Reader

Compiled by Najla Semple for the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC)

20 October 2008

This is an archived issue of What's New.

Also available as a print-friendly PDF (132KB).

Known problem links in online versions and PDFs are disabled (or updated when the issue is current) but it is not always possible to annotate the amendments in PDFs with a date or other information which may appear in the online version.

Mind the Gap

Report reveals major gaps in long term management of valuable digital assets

15th February 2006

A 'state of the nation' report today reveals that less than 20% of UK organisations surveyed have a strategy in place to deal with the risk of loss or degradation to their digital resources - despite a very high level of awareness of the risks and potential economic penalties.

With the release today of the report, Mind the gap: assessing digital preservation needs in the UK, the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) aims to help government, public institutions and private companies turn high awareness into concerted action.

The survey reveals that the loss of digital data is commonplace - it is seen as an inevitable hazard by some - with more than 70% of respondents saying data had been lost in their organisation. Awareness of the potential economic and cultural risks is high, with 87% recognising that corporate memory or key cultural material could be lost and some 60% saying that their organisation could lose out financially. In 52% of the organisations surveyed there was management commitment to digital preservation - but only 18% had a strategy in place. A pdf version of the report is available from
http://www.dpconline.org/docs/reports/uknamindthegap.pdf

Prior to the survey, a number of high profile cases had helped raise awareness of the risks of digital data loss. In a recent judgement in the US, Morgan Stanley had more than $1 billion awarded against them as a result of their failure to preserve and hand over some documents required by the courts. The Securities and Exchange Commission in the US are also looking at fining the same bank over $10 million - specifically for failing to preserve email documents.

The data tapes from the 1975 Viking Lander mission to Mars were recently discovered to have deteriorated despite careful storage, and scientists also found that they could not decode the formats used and had to rely on the original paper printouts.

The BBC's 1986 Domesday project is another example of the unique fragility of digital material. Designed to capture a picture of Britain in 1986, the collection of photographs, maps and statistical information was recorded onto 30cm laserdiscs. But less than 20 years on, the laserdiscs and player are obsolete. The date was only rescued thanks to a surviving laserdisc player and more than a year's effort by specialist teams.

According to the DPC-commissioned report, the principal risks to digital material are: the deterioration of the storage medium; obsolescence of hardware, software or storage format; and failure to save crucial document format information (a common example is preserving tables of numbers without preserving an explanation of their meaning).

The report identifies 18 core needs, each of which has recommendations which will address them. Recommendations are addressed to organisations, government, and funding bodies. Among the key needs: awareness of digital preservation issues needs to be more commonplace - particularly amongst data creators; organisations need to take stock of their digital materials (55% of the respondents to the survey do not know what digital material they hold); and projects need to be funded from the outset with the long-term value of the information produced and the cost of retention taken into account. There needs to be funding for more digital archives

This UK Digital Preservation Needs Assessment study, carried out by the software services company Tessella, looked at digital preservation practice in government bodies, archives, museums, libraries, education, scientific research organisations, pharmaceutical, environmental, nuclear, engineering, publishing and financial institutions

"Gone are the days when archives were dusty places that could be forgotten until they were needed" said Lynne Brindley, Chair of the Digital Preservation Coalition. "The digital revolution means all of us - organisations and individuals - must regularly review and update resources to ensure they remain accessible. Updating need not be expensive, but the report is a wake-up call to each one of us to ensure proper and continuing attention to our digital records."

Dr Peter Townsend, Commercial Director of Tessella said: "It is critically important that organisations create long-term pro-active information management plans, and allocate adequate budget and resource to implementing practical solutions." Dr Robert Sharpe of Tessella added: "Organisations that create large volumes of digital information need to recognise the benefits of retaining long-term information in digital form so that these can be balanced against the costs of active preservation."

Notes for Editors:

About the DPC: The DPC is a cross-sectoral membership organisation dedicated to securing the preservation of digital resources in the UK. It currently has 28 members and associate members: The British Library, the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries (MLA), the Consortium of Research Libraries in the British Isles (CURL), the Digital Curation Centre (DCC), Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), the National Archives, the National Archives of Scotland; the National Library of Scotland, Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI); the University of Oxford, University of London Computer Centre (ULCC), Arts and Humanities Data Service (AHDS), the BBC Information & Archives, the Centre for Digital Library Research at Strathclyde (CDLR); the Corporation of London, Council for the Central Laboratory of the Research Councils (CCLRC) , the Ministry of Defence, National Electronic Library for Health, National Library of Wales, Natural History Museum, Online Computer and Library Center (OCLC), Open University, Publishers' Association, Research Libraries Group (RLG), Trinity College Library Dublin, the University of Southampton, UK Data Archive, and the Wellcome Library.

Previous DPC research: A DPC Members survey, which was undertaken in 2003, revealed details of volumes and formats of digital materials held by DPC members and the issue they faced in their preservation. Additional work was undertaken to provide real-life scenarios of circumstances in which digital materials become vulnerable to loss. In 2005, the Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries, funded a sample survey of local and regional organisations in two regions. The report, Mind the gap: assessing digital preservation needs in the UK is the culmination of the two earlier surveys, and a more detailed, wider survey undertaken in 2005

About Tessella: Tessella Support Services plc specialises in the application of innovative software solutions to scientific, technical and engineering problems. Tessella has over 20 years of proven expertise in the area of reliable and authentic long-term preservation of electronic records, both for government and scientific organizations. In recent years a number of mainly academic and government organisations have been at the cutting-edge of facing up to the digital preservation challenge, and Tessella has played a key role in a number of the most practical of these initiatives.

Further information:

For DPC press enquiries and interviews please contact Anna Arthur, 0207 637 2994, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.dpconline.org

For Tessella press enquiries and interviews please contact Alison Smith, Marketing Manager, + 44 (0) 01235 546609, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

www.tessella.com

ICPSR become DPC Ally

The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)

It gives me great pleasure to announce that The Inter-University Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) has become an allied organisation of the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC).

The ICPSR (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/ICPSR/) is, like the DPC a membership organisation.  It encourages and facilitates research and instruction in the social sciences and related areas by acquiring, developing, archiving, and disseminating data and documentation relevant to a wide spectrum of disciplines, and by conducting related instructional programs.

Chris Rusbridge, a Digital Preservation Coalition Board Director, said:

"We are delighted to welcome ICPSR as an international affiliate of the Digital Preservation Coalition.  Established in the early 1960s, this prestigious organisation is a pioneer in the preservation and curation of social science and related data in the US. We are honoured by its recognition of the important role of the DPC internationally, and are strengthened by its commitment."

Myron Gutmann, Director of ICPSR, said,

"The Digital Preservation Coalition plays a central role in ensuring coordinated action for digital preservation. Membership in the DPC and ICPSR's long-term commitment in this area give us an opportunity to help accomplish important goals that our organizations share."

Nancy McGovern, ICPSR Digital Preservation Officer, said,

"It has been a pleasure to work with the DPC on the Digital Preservation Management workshop curriculum. ICPSR's membership in the DPC will foster that collaboration as we move into the next phases of the workshop and as the digital community envisions shared international curricula for digital preservation and curation."

I would wish to endorse all of the above and I am sure that ICPSR's expertise and experience will enrich the DPC membership. A closer working relationship will afford increased opportunities for both organisations to take forward their missions and goals to the benefit of their members and the wider community.

I look forward to working closely with ICPSR colleagues.

Frances Boyle (DPC Executive Director)

DPC/PADI What's new in digital preservation - Issue 17

September 2007 - February 2008

To open PDFs you will need Adobe Reader

Compiled by Najla Semple for the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC)

04 April 2008

This is an archived issue of What's New.

Also available as a print-friendly PDF (157KB).

Known problem links in online versions and PDFs are disabled (or updated when the issue is current) but it is not always possible to annotate the amendments in PDFs with a date or other information which may appear in the online version.

PDF should be used to preserve information for the future

Good news the already popular PDF file format adopted by consumers and business alike is one of the most logical formats to preserve today's electronic information for tomorrow.

According to the latest report released today by the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC), Portable Document Formats (PDF) is one of the best file formats to preserve electronic documents and ensure their survival for the future.  This announcement will allow information officers to follow a standardised approach for preserving electronic documents.

Information management and long-term preservation are major issues facing consumers and businesses in the 21^st Century.  This report is one of a series where The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) aims to think about and address the challenges facing us.

This report reviews PDF and the newly introduced PDF/Archive (PDF/A) format as a potential solution to the problem of long-term digital preservation.  It suggests adopting PDF/A for archiving electronic documents' as the standard will help preservation and retrieval in the future.  It concludes that it can only be done when combined with a comprehensive records management programme and formally established records procedures.

Betsy Fanning, author of the report and director of standards at AIIM, comments, "A standardised approach to preserving electronic documents would be a welcome development for organisations.  Without this we could be walking blindly into a digital black hole."

The National Archives works closely with the DPC with issues surrounding digital preservation and will continue to do so. Adrian Brown, head of digital preservation at The National Archives said: "This report highlights the challenges we all face in a digital age.  Using PDF/A as a standard will help information officers ensure that key business data survives. But it should never be viewed as the Holy Grail. It is merely a tool in the armoury of a well thought out records management policy."

The report is a call to action, organisations need to act now and look hard at their information policies and procedures to anticipate the demand for their content (documents and records) in the future.  Everybody has different criteria, types and uses for documentation so you need to find one that works for your organisation.

If you would like to read the full report please go to the Digital Preservation Coalition website.  This can be accessed here
http://www.dpconline.org/graphics/reports/index.html#twrpdf

- ENDS -

For further information about:

• The National Archives please contact, Tim Matthews, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or 020 8392 5277.

• Digital Preservation Coalition please contact Carol Jackson, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Notes for editors:

The National Archives, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk, is a government department; and also an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The National Archives brings together the Public Record Office, Historical Manuscripts Commission, the Office of Public Sector Information and Her Majesty's Stationery Office. See also www.opsi.gov.uk

The National Archives is at the heart of information policy - setting standards and supporting innovation in information and records management across the UK, and providing a practical framework of best practice for opening up and encouraging the re-use of public sector information. This work helps inform today's decisions and ensure that they become tomorrow's permanent record.

The National Archives is also the UK government's official archive, containing 900 years of history from Domesday Book to the present, with records ranging from parchment and paper scrolls through to recently created digital files and archived websites. Increasingly, these records are being put online, making them universally accessible.

The vision of The National Archives is to:

• Lead and transform information management
• Guarantee the survival of today's information for tomorrow
• Bring history to life for everyone

About The Digital Preservation Coalition  (DPC)
The Digital Preservation Coalition  (DPC) is a cross-sector member organisation established in 2001 to foster joint action to address the urgent challenges of securing the preservation of digital resources in the UK and to work with others internationally.

For further information, see www.dpconline.org

JPEG 2000 a great step forward for the archival community

The Digital Preservation Coalition has examined JPEG 2000 in a report published today.  The report concludes that JPEG 2000 represents a great stride forward for the archival community.  The format now allows for greater compression rates and a recompression rate that is visually lossless.

The findings come as the Digital Preservation Coalition launch its latest 'Technology Watch Report' written by Dr. Robert Buckley, a Research Fellow with Xerox, 'JPEG 2000 - a practical digital preservation standard?'.  The report looks in-depth at the new format and the challenges it has to cope with.  JPEG 2000 is widely used to collect and distribute a variety of images from geospatial, medical imaging, digital cinema, and image repositories to networked images. Interest in JPEG 2000 is now growing in the archival and library sectors, as institutions look for more efficient formats to store the results of major digitisation programmes.

The report is aimed at organisations involved in the management and storage of digital information.  The in-depth report will help archives, libraries and other institutions make informed decisions about JPEG 2000 format and their future storage needs.

JPEG 2000 can reduce storage requirements by an order of magnitude compared to an uncompressed TIFF file.  Dr. Buckley says, "This new format has come at a time of heightened awareness about the access to digital documents.  Any format that can assist archives and libraries to do this is welcome."

The format will also enable users to open as much of the file as they need at that time.  This means a viewer, for example, could open a gigapixel image almost instantly.   This is achieved by retrieving a decompressed low-resolution display sized image from the JPEG 2000 codestream.  Coupled with this, the users' ability to zoom, pan and rotate an image have been enhanced.

Adrian Brown, head of digital preservation, The National Archives said: "This is a very timely addition to the DPC's Technology Watch Report series as many organisations are themselves reviewing the JPEG2000 format. This concise, comprehensive and clear guide will be of interest to practitioners across the digital preservation community."

The report concludes that JPEG 2000 offers much more flexibility and features than JPEG, but at the cost of greater complexity.  It is however a great stride forward, and of major significance for the information management community.

For further information please contact, Tim Matthews, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , or 020 8392 5277.

- ENDS -

Notes for editors:

The National Archives, www.nationalarchives.gov.uk, is a government department; and also an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The National Archives brings together the Public Record Office, Historical Manuscripts Commission, the Office of Public Sector Information and Her Majesty's Stationery Office. See also www.opsi.gov.uk

The National Archives is at the heart of information policy - setting standards and supporting innovation in information and records management across the UK, and providing a practical framework of best practice for opening up and encouraging the re-use of public sector information. This work helps inform today's decisions and ensure that they become tomorrow's permanent record.

The National Archives is also the UK government's official archive, containing 900 years of history from Domesday Book to the present, with records ranging from parchment and paper scrolls through to recently created digital files and archived websites. Increasingly, these records are being put online, making them universally accessible.

The vision of The National Archives is to:

• Lead and transform information management
• Guarantee the survival of today's information for tomorrow
• Bring history to life for everyone

About The Digital Preservation Coalition  (DPC)
The Digital Preservation Coalition  (DPC) is a cross sectoral member organisation established in 2001 to foster joint action to address the urgent challenges of securing the preservation of digital resources in the UK and to work with others internationally
For further information, see www.dpconline.org or contact Carol Jackson, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it