World Digital Libraries- An International Journal
  • Year: 2009
  • Volume: 2
  • Issue: 1

Who guards the guards: meeting the challenges of digital preservation

  • Author:
  • Heather Brown
  • Total Page Count: 18
  • Page Number: 51 to 68

Assistant Director, Paper, Artlab Australia and Project Officer, State Library of South Australia for University of S A Business Information Course. E-mail: Brown.Heather@dpc.sa.gov.au

Online published on 25 November, 2013.

Abstract

This paper discusses the importance of preserving digital knowledge over a period of time, the challenges, priorities and the various principles and strategies for long term preservation. It draws on a risk management framework, using the analogy of ‘who guards the guards’ to explore the implications of dangers, the roles of those who safeguard digital content, and various strategies – technological, resourcing and organizational – for mitigating risks over a period of time. Three key strategies potentially have the capacity to profoundly influence the survival of digital knowledge into the future: collaboration and alliances, risk management and quality assurance, and education and training.