On Thu, 5 Feb 1998, Edward Barrow wrote:
> I do not have a particular view on the merits of archiving, beyond a
> general feeling that we should question the automatic assumption that
> everything that can be archived, should be.
I don't think that there is an automatic assumption that everything that
can be archived should be archived. For example the RLG/CPA report on
"Preserving digital information" (1996) states that "[Digital] archives
cannot save all information objects; they must appraise and select for
retention the most valuable items." Similarly, in a legal deposit context,
guidelines for the selection of electronic materials can be found in
Appendix 3 of Mackenzie Owen and van der Walle's "Deposit collections of
electronic publications" (1996).
Problems remain because there is (as yet) no clear understanding as to who
is responsible for digital preservation, the precise selection criteria
that they should use and how they can then make information content
available without infringing current copyright laws. It will also be too
late (in many cases) to select a item for preservation at the time when it
goes out of copyright, 70 years (or so) after the author's death. This is
the real copyright issue.
Reports cited:
Preserving Digital Information: The Report of the Task Force on Archiving
of Digital Information. Commissioned by The Commission on Preservation and
Access and The Research Libraries Group, Inc. Washington, D.C.: Commission
on Preservation and Access, May 1996.
http://www.rlg.org/ArchTF/tfadi.index.htm
J.S. Mackenzie Owen and J.v.d. Walle. Deposit collections of electronic
publications. Luxembourg: European Commission, DG XIII-E/4, 1996.
Michael Day
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