Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Digital preservation - is that the right term to use?

In his blog post "Digital Preservation" term considered harmful?, "usability over time".

I like the idea of using a different phrase. When we talk about usability over time, for example, we get the idea that there is a reason for digital preservation. We also then can discuss not only preserving the digital asset, but also preserving the metadata and ensuring the viability of the hardware and software. The proper phrase not only focuses us, but also broadens our understanding of what digital preservation is.

I wonder if the digital preservation community would be willing to begin using a new term en masse?


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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I agree! I think it's interesting that there are a slew of definitions and even job titles that derive from other concepts, like 'digital preservation', 'digital archivist', or 'digital librarian'. I see some of the members from our Preservation Department for the library cringe when the words 'digital' and 'preservation' are used side by side.

Here's a link to our work blog for the Digital Library Programs at Case Western Reserve- http://blog.case.edu/digitallibrary/2008/08/05/digital_preservation if you're interested.