The accumulated body of data, information, and knowledge created in the course of an individual organization's existence or throughout the course of history.
What are the Risks of not preserving digital materials?
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Technologies used become obsolete; this may apply to elements such as hardware, software and file formats. |
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The bits and bytes making up the digital information degrade over time. |
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Insufficient contextual information (metadata) to understand the information and for it to be useful. |
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Lack of supporting legislation to facilitate preservation, particularly relating to copyright/IPR, privacy and legal deposit. |
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Rate of data creation outstrips capacity for storage, processing and preservation. |
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Insufficient staffing/skills to be able to carry out successful preservation. |
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Executive level support for digital preservation is not persistent |
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Failure to engage with stakeholders at all stages of the record life-cycle |
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Loss of corporate memory |
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Unable to fully capture and represent current events for future generations |
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Storage conditions are inadequate for preservation |
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Preservation not carried out in a timely manner |
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No active programme/processes aimed at acquiring digital objects/collections |
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Organisation does not move important digital/digitized objects into a preservation system |
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Do not adequately consider the preservation needs of complex digital objects, including new publication formats |
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Digital objects/collections are not captured in a suitable preservation system |
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Absence of appropriately skilled and invested people responsible for digital preservation |
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Absence of a documented workflow for the creation/acquisition and then maintenance of digital files |
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What Opportunities do preserved digital materials create?
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Organization Type |
Digital Preservation can… |
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demonstrate a commitment to transparency and accountability by sustaining an accurate digital record |
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transmit opportunities to future generations by ensuring the right data is available to the right people at the right time in the right format, for as long as necessary |
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make available a dynamic, powerful information asset which represents an accurate social and cultural record |
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inspire brand evolution through an understanding of corporate history enabled by access to a complete set of reliable records |
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inform business initiatives today through an understanding of previous decisions and rationale enabled by access to a complete set of reliable records |
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add value and create opportunities for the business by leveraging corporate memory as an asset |
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demonstrate, to funders, a commitment to the sustainability of their investment and the cultural record |
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provide opportunities for the reuse of historical research data for purposes not originally anticipated |
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make the right information is available at the right time, by using the most appropriate service |
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inform and educate the public by enabling access to diverse digital data and records |
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demonstrate, to the public purse, a commitment to maintaining the sustainability of the cultural record |
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inspire the trust and understanding of future users, by providing a complete digital record |
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help retain the archival and historical value of rich and diverse collections, ensuring they continue to be accessible for the long-term |
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demonstrate a commitment to delivering on a public mandate, for present and future generations |
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maintain access to strategically important assets |
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help ensure that cultural and creative data, including the outputs of industry remains accessible, reusable and understandable |
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create greater scope for innovation and reuse by using cultural and creative data at scale |
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maintain access to digital outputs of cultural and creative industries which are essential for innovation, research, development |
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transmit opportunities to future generations by ensuring the right cultural and creative data is available to the right people at the right time in the right format, for as long as necessary |
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demonstrate the fulfilment of a legal obligation to display and therefore preserve collection objects in perpetuity |
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maintain the cultural and monetary value of the collection, by sustaining access to it |
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help visitors to gain a deeper understanding of our cultural heritage creating new learning experiences with existing data |
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reach new audiences by creating new learning experiences with existing data |
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ensure the collection remains relevant and accessible to generations to come by creating digital copies |