Documents Contributed by ECAR, Digital Preservation, and DAMS

This research bulletin is a companion to ECAR bulletin #18, 2005, "Digital Preservation: A Campus-Wide Perspective" by the same authors. The earlier bulletin outlined the stewardship responsibilities of the academy with respect to administrative and scholarly content. This bulletin explores a proposed model for establishing a digital preservation program in colleges and universities—requirements for educating the institutional community, developing roles and policies, and establishing an integrated technical architecture to support the complete life cycle of digital information. The model was developed at the University of Kansas.

This bulletin outlines campus-wide issues relating to digital preservation, an emerging aspect of the stewardship responsibility for higher education. Digital presentation requires more than simply extending traditional preservation practices to digital information or assuming that media backups are sufficient. Providing ongoing access to vital current content and stewardship of intellectual and cultural heritage challenges us to define a new information environment that promotes the preservation of fragile digital information. A companion ECAR research bulletin (#19, 2005) details the University of Kansas proposed actions in creating an integrated digital preservation program.