More FORMATS AND STRATEGIES FOR PRESERVATION

Migration: This involves changing the configuration of the underlying data without changing
its intellectual output. It can either involve the transfer of data to new system environment or the
conversion from one file format or operating system to another. Various strategies are involved
in migration including; Change media that involves transfer digital materials from less stable to
more stable media; change format, this is applicable in a repository that has a large number of
digital resources in as many formats. Involves reducing the number of formats to a reasonable
size the last strategy in migration is the change of standards.
Advantages
 It is a widely used strategy and procedures for simple migration are well
established.
 It is generally a reliable way to preserve the intellectual content of digital
objects and is particularly suited to page-based documents.
 Conversion software for some formats is readily available.
Disadvantages
• It requires a large commitment of resources, both initially and over time.
Migration at the point of obsolescence is labour intensive unless it can be
automated, because formats evolve so rapidly; as collections grow, the work
involved in migration also increases. The migration on request approach may
mitigate this to some extent, in that migration is not carried out on digital
objects which may not be used; standardization of formats also makes batch
migration easier.
• Some of the data or attributes (e.g. formatting) of the digital object may be
lost during migration; the authenticity of the record may then be
compromised. In particular, there is likely to be a significant loss of
functionality in the case of complex digital objects. Migration is based on the
assumption that content is more important than functionality or look and feel.
• The potential loss of data and attributes may compromise the integrity and
authenticity of a digital object, which is a major issue for digital archivists.
• There may be potential IPR problems if either the source or the new format is
proprietary, although these are unlikely to be as prohibitive as they might be
in the case of emulation.
• Specialized conversion tools are needed to convert digital objects from one
format to another, and if no appropriate tool is available for a specific file
format, developing a customized migration system can be complex and
expensive, although costs could be shared with institutions wishing to perform
the same migration.
Emulation: Emulation is the process of recreation of the hardware and software
environments required to access a resource. It involves emulating obsolete software
platform or imitating the old operating system. Emulation has been described by Russell
(1999) as a long-term solution to preservation since the technical environment is only
emulated when needed rather than being preserved along with data. Sierman (2008)
identifies three levels in which emulation can be undertaken. The application software
level and system software level involves knowledge of their design and implementation.
The third level which is called software emulation of software involves emulating a
computer hardware component with a software component
Advantages
o In theory full emulation enables us to recreate the full functionality and exact look
and feel of a digital object’s performance. It is therefore an attractive approach for
preserving complex digital objects and those where appearance or functionality
are identified as significant properties.
o In contrast to migration, the focus of emulation is on changing the environment
rather than the digital object itself, thus lessening the risk of data loss through
repeated migration cycles.
o Emulation is more cost-effective for preserving large collections, despite the
relatively high initial costs for developing an emulation device; in contrast,
migration applies to all the objects in a collection repetitively, creating high
ongoing costs
o The emulation approach can be implemented at a higher level than the migration
approach, so rather than developing conversion solutions per format institutions
can develop emulation solutions per environment.
o It means that records in obscure formats do not have to be abandoned; in theory if
the creating hardware/software can be emulated, all the records created in that
environment can be recreated.
o Regardless of the principal preservation approach adopted by a digital repository,
emulation could be useful as a backup mechanism that would provide access to
the ‘digital original’ form of each record and may be necessary for the extraction
of digital objects from older technological environments.
Disadvantages
 As yet, emulation has not been widely tested as a long-term digital
preservation strategy, and further practical tests are essential before more
definitive conclusions about its reliability can be drawn.
 An emulation system may require the user to master completely unfamiliar
technology in order to understand an archival digital record, and technological
developments are incredibly rapid
 Selecting an emulation strategy also involves buying into a migration strategy
because emulators themselves become obsolete, so it becomes necessary to
replace the old emulator with a new one, or to create a new emulator that
allows the old emulator to work on new platforms.
 Most emulation approaches will involve preserving or emulating proprietary
software which is covered by patent, licence or other IPR
 Emulation may require a large commitment in resources, and highly skilled
computer programmers would be needed to write the emulator code.
Refreshing: Digital storage media have short lives and this requires moving
data now and then to new media to ensure it is usable. Sometimes this
involves a change of media: Compact Disk- Read Only Memory (CD-ROMs)
will be copied onto hard disks in a digital data store, floppy disks maybe
copied onto CD-ROMs, at other times refreshing may take place because a
particular substrate has become unstable, and the files may be copied to a
newer, more stable version of the same medium.
 Advantages
• The risk of "data carrier failure" is dealt with.
• The risk of "availability of reproducers" is dealt with.
• Relatively inexpensive to implement
• Relatively easy to implement
 Disadvantages:
• Problem of dependence on software not solved
• Problem of format ageing not solved
• Not sustainable without combination with other dp strategies
 Technology preservation: Preservation of the technical environment by
conserving copies of software and hardware is referred to as technology
preservation. This technique needs to be accompanied by regular cycles of
media refreshing. It is very expensive and impractical due to the large number
of computers and programmes to be managed over a long period of time
Advantages
• Data can be read on original devices and with original software.
• Older software (if available) can be installed and used.
• Obsolete formats can be read. 
Disadvantages:

 Cost and space implications for acquiring and maintaining large quantities of
hardware (from computers and peripherals to connectors) are prohibitive for many
organizations.
 Older operating system and application software and appropriate licences must
also be acquired and maintained.
 Over time the machines will degrade and ultimately fail, so the number of
machines capable of reading certain types of old files will continually decrease.
 Technical support for both software and hardware will also disappear over time.
 Documentation for older computing environments can be difficult to locate.

Importance of information representation and description

It Facilitates:

• the proper rendering

• understanding
• interpretation

METADATA

Metadata has been defined as: data about data

Preservation metadata is required to enable management of digital resources so they can continue
to be accessed for the long term Preservation metadata is the information infrastructure that
supports the processes associated with digital preservation. More specifically, it is the
information necessary to maintain the viability, renderability, and understandability of digital
resources over the long-term. Viability requires that the archived digital object’s bit stream is
intact and readable from the digital media upon which it is stored. Renderability refers to the
translation of the bit stream into a form that can be viewed by human users, or processed by
computers.
Metadata required for preservation must: - List the technical details about files and structure
of the resource and how to use it. Record the history of all actions performed on the resource,
including any changes or decisions made about it. Prove the authenticity through technical means
and account for the continued source. Retain information on who has the responsibility and
rights to perform preservation actions on the resource. - custody of the resource.
The specific metadata needed for long-term preservation falls into four categories based on
basic preservation functional groupings:
Descriptive metadata
Describes the intellectual entity through properties such as author and title, and supports
discovery and delivery of digital content. It may also provide an historic context, by, for
example, specifying which print-based material was the original source for a digital derivative
(source provenance). In short Preservation metadata includes: Provenance: Who has had
custody/ownership of the digital object? Authenticity: Is the digital object what it purports to be?
Preservation Activity: What has been done to preserve the digital object? Technical
Environment: What is needed to render and use the digital object? Rights Management: What
IPR must be observed?
Structural metadata
The function of structural metadata is to identify the relationship between separate digital
objects (for example, a collection of letters) and between different sections/files of each
individual object (for example, the different pages within one letter).
Technical metadata for physical files
Technical metadata focuses on how a digital object was created, its format, format-
specific technical characteristics, storage and location, etc. Accurate technical metadata helps a
repository manage digital objects over time and keep them usable.
Administrative metadata
Includes provenance information of who has cared for the digital object and what
preservation actions have been performed on it, as well as rights and permission information that
specifies, for example, access to the digital object, including which preservation actions are
permissible.

Metadata functions
1. Resource discovery
 Allowing resources to be found by relevant criteria;
 Identifying resources;
 Bringing similar resources together;
 Distinguishing dissimilar resources;
 Giving location information.

2. Organizing e-resources
 Organizing links to resources based on audience or topic.
 Building these pages dynamically from metadata stored in databases.
3. Facilitating interoperability
 Using defined metadata schemes, shared transfer protocols, and crosswalks
between schemes, resources across the network can be searched more seamlessly.
 Cross-system search, e.g., using Z39.50 protocol;
 Metadata harvesting, e.g., OAI protocol.

4. Digital identification
 Elements for standard numbers, e.g., ISBN
 The location of a digital object may also be given using:
 a file name
 a URL

5. Archiving and preservation

Challenges:
Digital information is fragile and can be corrupted or altered;
It may become unusable as storage technologies change.
 Metadata is key to ensuring that resources will survive and continue to be
accessible into the future. Archiving and preservation require special elements:
 to track the lineage of a digital object,
 to detail its physical characteristics, and
 to document its behavior in order to emulate it in future technologies.