C&RL News, March 2009
Vol. 70, No. 3
by Jane Hedberg
Sustainable digital preservation
The Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sustainable Digital Preservation and Access has published an interim report, “Sustaining the Digital Investment: Issues and Challenges of Economically Sustainable Digital Preservation.” The task force brings together 17 experts from economics, computer science, and cultural heritage organizations. Its work is supported by the National Science Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Library of Congress, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Council on Library and Information Resources, and the U.K. Joint Information Systems Committee. The 78-page interim report reviews best current practices for funding preservation of digital public information and records, and it identifies new trends and systemic challenges. The first chapter is an “Introduction” to the economics of digital preservation, the second is “Economic Models and Their Properties,” the third is “Prior Experience and Preliminary Lessons Learned,” and the fourth is “Understanding Economic Sustainability: Observations, Gaps and Opportunities.”
The interim report is available free-of-charge at brtf.sdsc.edu/biblio/BRTF_Interim_Report.pdf.
Sustainable environments
The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) has mounted the proceedings from its conference, Expert’s Roundtable on Sustainable Climate Management Strategies, held in Tenerife, Spain, in 2007. GCI invited 15 international experts in preservation, cultural heritage management, and environmental control to exchange knowledge and experiences, identify areas in need of further research, and consider education and training opportunities. The conference proceedings consist of 12 papers, an edited transcript, and a 15-page bibliography.
The proceedings are available free-of-charge at www.getty.edu/conservation/science/climate/climate_experts_roundtable.html
MetaArchive
The MetaArchive Cooperative is an international organization of cultural heritage institutions concerned about long-term preservation of their digital assets. It formed in 2004 to collaboratively build low-cost trusted digital repositories. Using the open source LOCKSS software, the institutions submit digital collections to a geographically distributed network of secure servers, where files are checked and repaired as necessary. Members of the cooperative include Emory University, Auburn University, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, University of Louisville, Florida State University, Boston College, Rice University, and the University of Hull in the United Kingdom.
For more information about MetaArchive, go to www.metaarchive.org.
LC TOPS
The Preservation Directorate of the Library of Congress (LC) has presented more than 35 lectures in the Washington D.C.-based “Topics in Preservation Science.” In 2009, LC changed the name of the series to “Topics in Preservation Series” (TOPS) and expanded it to cover more general preservation issues, including conservation, preventive care, emergency preparedness, and digital preservation. LC will also offer remote participation through live Webcasts and wider dissemination of the content by mounting audio recordings and slides from selected presentations on its Web site. The next scheduled lecture will be “The Art of the Steal (Identification of Forgeries)” by Frank Abagnale on March 19, 2009.
For more information about the series, go to www.loc.gov/preserv/tops/schedule.html. To request participation in a live Webcast, send an e-mail to anha@loc.gov at least three days before the lecture.