Preserving digital information with 13 tables

Cultural history enthusiasts have asserted the urgent need to protect digital information from imminent loss. This book describes methodology for long-term preservation of all kinds of digital documents. It justifies this methodology using 20 th century theory of knowledge communication, and outlines the requirements and architecture for the software needed. The author emphasizes attention to the perspectives and the needs of end users. 3540378863......Page 1 Detailed Table of Contents......Page 15 Preface......Page 6 Trustworthy Digital Objects......Page 7 Structure of the Book......Page 8 How to Read This Book......Page 10 Part I: Why We Need Long-term Digital Preservation......Page 22 1. State of the Art......Page 27 1.1 What is Digital Information Preservation?......Page 28 1.2 What Would a Preservation Solution Provide?......Page 31 1.3 Why Do Digital Data Seem to Present Difficulties?......Page 32 1.4 Characteristics of Preservation Solutions......Page 34 1.5 Technical Objectives and Scope Limitations......Page 39 1.6 Summary......Page 41 2.1 The Information Revolution......Page 43 2.2 Economic and Technical Trends......Page 45 2.3 Democratization of Information......Page 50 2.4 Social Issues......Page 51 2.5 Documents as Social Instruments......Page 53 2.6 Why So Slow Toward Practical Preservation?......Page 63 2.7 Selection Criteria: What is Worth Saving?......Page 65 2.8 Summary......Page 70 Part II: Information Object Structure......Page 73 3. Introduction to Knowledge Theory......Page 76 3.1 Conceptual Objects: Values and Patterns......Page 77 3.2 Ostensive Definition and Names......Page 79 3.3 Objective and Subjective: Not a Technological Issue......Page 82 3.4 Facts and Values: How Can We Distinguish?......Page 84 3.5 Representation Theory: Signs and Sentence Meanings......Page 87 3.6 Documents and Libraries: Collections, Sets, and Classes......Page 89 3.7 Syntax, Semantics, and Rules......Page 91 3.8 Summary......Page 93 4.1 Intentional and Accidental Information......Page 96 4.2 Distinctions Sought and Avoided......Page 98 4.3 Information and Knowledge: Tacit and Human Aspects......Page 101 4.4 Trusted and Trustworthy......Page 104 4.5 Relationships and Ontologies......Page 105 4.6 What Copyright Protection Teaches......Page 107 4.7 Summary......Page 109 5. Trust and Authenticity......Page 112 5.1 What Can We Trust?......Page 113 5.2 What Do We Mean by 'Authentic'?......Page 114 5.3 Authenticity for Different Information Genres......Page 117 5.4 How Can We Preserve Dynamic Resources?......Page 122 5.5 Summary......Page 124 6. Describing Information Structure......Page 127 6.1 Testable Archived Information......Page 128 6.2 Syntax Specification with Formal Languages......Page 129 6.3 Monographs and Collections......Page 133 6.4 Digital Object Schema......Page 135 6.5 From Ontology to Architecture and Design......Page 142 6.6 Metadata......Page 147 6.7 Summary......Page 151 Part III: Distributed Content Management......Page 153 7.1 Character Sets and Fonts......Page 156 7.2 File Formats......Page 159 7.3 Perpetually Unique Resource Identifiers......Page 169 7.4 Summary......Page 177 8.1 Security......Page 179 8.2 Recordkeeping Standards......Page 189 8.3 Archival Best Practices......Page 191 8.4 Repository Audit and Certification......Page 192 8.5 Summary......Page 194 9. Everyday Digital Content Management......Page 196 9.1 Software Layering......Page 198 9.2 A Model of Storage Stack Development......Page 200 9.3 Repository Architecture......Page 201 9.4 Archival Collection Types......Page 211 9.5 Summary......Page 217 Part IV: Digital Object Architecture for the Long Term......Page 220 10. Durable Bit-Strings and Catalogs......Page 223 10.1 Media Longevity......Page 224 10.2 Replication to Protect Bit-Strings......Page 227 10.3 Repository Catalog ↔ Collection Consistency......Page 228 10.4 Collection Ingestion and Sharing......Page 229 10.5 Summary......Page 231 11. Durable Evidence......Page 233 11.1 Structure of Each Trustworthy Digital Object......Page 234 11.2 Infrastructure for Trustworthy Digital Objects......Page 241 11.3 Other Ways to Make Documents Trustworthy......Page 246 11.4 Summary......Page 247 12. Durable Representation......Page 249 12.1 Representation Alternatives......Page 250 12.2 Design of a Durable Encoding Environment......Page 256 12.3 Summary......Page 262 13. Assessment and the Future......Page 264 13.1 Preservation Based on Trustworthy Digital Objects......Page 265 13.2 Open Challenges of Metadata Creation......Page 269 13.3 Applied Knowledge Theory......Page 272 13.4 Assessment of the TDO Methodology......Page 274 13.5 Summary and Conclusion......Page 276 A: Acronyms and Glossary......Page 278 B: Uniform Resource Identifier Syntax......Page 293 C: Repository Requirements......Page 295 D: Assessment with Independent Criteria......Page 297 E.1 Memory Model......Page 302 E.2 Machine Status Registers......Page 303 E.3 Machine Instruction Codes......Page 304 E.4 Organization of an Archived Module......Page 309 E:5 Application Example......Page 310 F: Software Modules Wanted......Page 313 Bibliography......Page 315

Cultural history enthusiasts have asserted the urgent need to protect digital information from imminent loss. Without action, much of what has been created in digital form is likely to become unusable. Although a decade has already elapsed since this challenge was clearly articulated, nobody has described a complete procedure for preventing such loss – until now.

Leading industry consultant Henry M. Gladney outlines a technical solution and justifies its correctness and optimality. His presentation focuses on long-term digital preservation principles as a basis for producing the software that will be needed. The method described will work for any kind of digital document, multimedia file, business record collection, or scientific information, and is believed to be optimal with respect to both the quality of the preserved information and end-user convenience. Additionally, Dr. Gladney explains the requirements of the related software, and sketches how to implement it.

Preserving Digital Information presents an up-to-date description of its field, together with a solution for all technical problems identified in the pertinent professional literature. It is for archivists, research librarians, and museum curators who need to understand digital technology in order to manage their institutions; software engineers and computer scientists whose work requires sound information about digital preservation; and attorneys, medical professionals, government officials, and business executives who depend on the long-term reliability of digital records.

Cultural history enthusiasts have asserted the urgent need to protect digital information from imminent loss. Without action, much of what has been created in digital form is likely to become unusable. Although a decade has already elapsed since this challenge was clearly articulated, nobody has described a complete procedure for preventing such loss – until now. Leading industry consultant Henry M. Gladney outlines a technical solution and justifies its correctness and optimality. His presentation focuses on long-term digital preservation principles as a basis for producing the software that will be needed. The method described will work for any kind of digital document, multimedia file, business record collection, or scientific information, and is believed to be optimal with respect to both the quality of the preserved information and end-user convenience. Additionally, Dr. Gladney explains the requirements of the related software, and sketches how to implement it. Preserving Digital Information presents an up-to-date description of its field, together with a solution for all technical problems identified in the pertinent professional literature. It is for archivists, research librarians, and museum curators who need to understand digital technology in order to manage their institutions; software engineers and computer scientists whose work requires sound information about digital preservation; and attorneys, medical professionals, government officials, and business executives who depend on the long-term reliability of digital records. "Cultural history enthusiasts have asserted the urgent need to protect digital information from imminent loss. Without action, much of what has been created in digital form is likely to become unusable." "Henry M. Gladney outlines a technical solution and justifies its correctness and optimality. His presentation focuses on long-term digital preservation principles as a basis for producing the software that will be needed. The method described will work for any kind of digital document, multi-media file, business record collection, or scientific information, and is believed to be optimal with respect to both the quality of the preserved information and end-user convenience. Additionally, Dr. Gladney explains the requirements of the related software, and sketches how to implement it."--Jacket