Digital Collections Preservationist

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The role of the digital preservationist is to manage and preserve digital collections to ensure authenticity and availability. Much like physical cultural assets found in museums, digital assets (born-digital and digitized) require organization, storage and collection maintenance. Digital Preservation is the active management of digital content over time to ensure ongoing access.[1] Digital materials present unique challenges since content created even a few years ago may become unusable if the correct hardware or software is not available. [2] A digital collections preservationist's role is to ensure best practices that will maintain the authenticity of the original and preserve it in formats that evolve due to changes in technology.

Responsibilities

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Digitized Book Collections
  • Implement policies for digital data collection and storage
  • Select digital repositories for assets and monitor data integrity
  • Create and maintain access to digital resources
  • Manage life-cycle of the digital assets

Resources

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Buck, R. A., & Gilmore, J. Allman. (2010). MRM5 : museum registration methods. 5th ed. Washington, DC: AAM Press, American Association of Museums.

Ray, Joyce (2009) "Sharks, Digital Curation, and the Education of Information Professionals," Museum Management and Curatorship, 24:4, 357-368.

References

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  1. ^ "Library of Congress".
  2. ^ "Heritage Preservation" (PDF).