Abstract
This paper seeks to advance digital preservation theory and practice by presenting an evidence-based model for identifying barriers to digital content rendering within a bit-level preservation repository. It details the results of an experiment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign library, where the authors procured a random sample of files from their institution’s digital preservation repository and tested their ability to open said files using software specified in local policies. This sampling regime furnished a preliminary portrait of local file rendering challenges, and thus preservation risk, grounded not in nominal preferences for one format’s characteristics over another, but in empirical evidence of what types of files present genuine barriers to staff and patron access. This research produced meaningful diagnostic data to inform file format policy making for the repository.
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | iPRES 2016 |
Subtitle of host publication | Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Digital Preservation |
Editors | Barbara Signori, Steve Knight, Natasa Milic-Frayling |
Place of Publication | Bern |
Publisher | Swiss National Library |
Pages | 121-128 |
State | Published - Oct 6 2016 |
Event | 13th International Conference on Digital Preservation - Swiss National Library, Bern, Switzerland Duration: Oct 3 2016 → Oct 6 2016 http://www.ipres2016.ch/ipr16.organizers-congress.org/index.html |
Conference
Conference | 13th International Conference on Digital Preservation |
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Abbreviated title | iPRES 2016 |
Country/Territory | Switzerland |
City | Bern |
Period | 10/3/16 → 10/6/16 |
Internet address |
Keywords
- digital preservation
- file format policy
- random sampling