Digital preservation: information services and use: ICSTI/CODATA/ICSU Seminar on Preserving the Record of Science, 14-15 February 2002, UNESCO, Paris, France

Description

Preservation or archiving or, to use a more modern term, “permanent availability” of the record of science as represented by scientific and technical information is one of the processes which is dramatically affected by the change to an all digital world. While once the printed page was the basic medium and was archived by libraries today the record exists in a number of locations and in many cases is not printed. Preservation is now a matter of identification of the item in the first place, the location is not always so obvious; then ascertaining the preservation policy of the “keeper” – who may not be the owner; ensuring that there will be preservation or archiving and last but not least keeping track of the technology so that the item can be read in the future, despite obsolescence or other technology changes. The papers included in this publication cover the status of different interests, the situation of the different projects underway or completed and the viewpoints of various technologies which will be important in the preservation process.