Holly Duncan is the account executive for Preferred Media and DPC Supporter
More than forty years ago, Preferred Media began as a physical archive, safeguarding film, tape, and disk media for clients across Australia. At the time, the role of an archive was straightforward: provide shelves, cataloguing, and climate control so materials could be stored and retrieved when needed.
Over the decades, preservation has changed. Today, it is not just about storage, but about ensuring media survives rapid technological shifts, remains accessible, and does so in a way that is sustainable.
In 2023, Preferred Media reframed its mission: to become the fastest and greenest archive in Australia for organisations working with large volumes of media.
Why Speed Matters
Backlogs are one of the most pressing issues faced by media-rich organisations. Vast amounts of material sit on fragile mediums or in scattered digital silos, awaiting preservation. Left too long, the risk of loss only grows.
To address this, Preferred Media developed the capacity to ingest at a sustained 40 terabytes per day. This allows collections to be moved quickly into preservation rather than tackled piecemeal over years.
The pathways into preservation have also diversified. Physical shipments remain but are no longer the only option. Preferred-EXT was introduced as an alternative submission method, enabling organisations to upload directly and “drip-feed” assets into the archive. This avoids the old pattern of saving up material until there was enough to justify a shipping cost and instead allows collections to flow steadily into preservation. It also avoids data being mislaid while waiting for a sufficiently large group to be sent.
Speed also extends to access. Traditionally, archives required a cycle of restore → copy → share. The Projects feature allows organisations to group assets into defined lists that can be accessed and shared directly within the archive. This makes it easier for curators, researchers, and production staff to collaborate on the same material without creating multiple copies.
Sustainability and Longevity
Preservation only works if it can be sustained. Tape continues to be the most sustainable option for long-term archiving. Unlike disk systems, it uses no power while stored on the shelf, and future generations of tape are designed to hold ever larger volumes of data. Disk systems, by contrast, grow by adding more drives; consuming more power and raising long-term costs.
Preservation also involves managing obsolescence. Significant portions of collections have been transferred from ageing media onto newer formats, extending their life by another 50 to 60 years. In parallel, a recycling partnership ensures obsolete tapes and disks are responsibly processed rather than sent to landfill.
Looking forward, artificial intelligence will play a growing role in discovery and enrichment. But AI also carries a heavy carbon footprint. To balance opportunity with sustainability, Preferred Media has separated storage from processing and introduced API access so that AI tools can be used selectively without shifting entire collections across networks.
Trust and Security
Preservation is also about trust. Collections are often sensitive, containing cultural, commercial, or personal significance. To strengthen resilience, Preferred Media has aligned with the Essential Eight security strategies recommended by the Australian Cyber Security Centre. These measures covering areas such as access control, patching, and multi-factor authentication are now embedded into system design.
At the file level, integrity is protected through fixity checks. By routinely verifying files against their original checksums, archives can detect corruption or loss, ensuring that what is preserved today remains unchanged in the future.
Collaboration with GLAM
Transformation has not been undertaken in isolation. A GLAM Collaboration Group has been convened to bring together representatives from galleries, libraries, archives, and museums. Their feedback has shaped preservation priorities, from security standards to usability and access.
One participant, Kerrie Shaw of Newcastle City Library, reflected on the experience:
“The team at Preferred Media have been a delight to work with from the outset of our relationship. Their ability to really listen to what I needed and the value they placed on my knowledge, opinions and thoughts went a long way to establishing a trusting and valued partnership.”
Her words highlight the importance of dialogue: preservation practices are strongest when they are co-designed with those who will use and care for collections.
Looking Forward
Preferred Media’s journey from physical archive to digital preservation is ongoing. What has remained consistent is the recognition that archives are not passive storage, but living systems that must be resilient, accessible, and sustainable.
By embedding practices such as fixity checking, project-based sharing, Essential Eight security, and flexible submission methods like Preferred-EXT (while keeping speed and sustainability at the centre) the goal is to support a future where archives are preserved and usable, not just for decades, but for generations.