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Date: | Fri, 3 Feb 1995 14:21:09 PST |
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The following is a news announcement from the Research Libraries
Group. It is being posted to other library-related LISTSERVs.
TASK FORCE FORMED TO INVESTIGATE PRESERVING DIGITAL DATA
"The digital medium is replacing paper in a dramatic record-keeping
revolution," January's "Scientific American" reported. "But such
[digital] documents may be lost unless we act now."
As the problem enters the national dialog, experts are banding
together to seek solutions. A new Task Force on Archiving of Digital
Information includes 21 specialists in publishing, information
technology, and library and archival administration. It is a joint
effort of the Research Libraries Group (RLG) and the Commission on
Preservation and Access (CPA).
"It is one thing to create digital repositories," the task force
founders state. "It is quite another to ensure that those
repositories are accessible indefinitely into the future in the face
of changing technologies, formats, and modes of access."
The greatest promise may lie in technology refreshment--that is,
periodically copying electronic records onto newer media and into
newer formats. The task force will analyze the problems that face
technology refreshment and seek solutions to them. It will also
investigate alternatives to technology refreshment. The group does
not see its mission as solely or even primarily technology-oriented,
however. It will consider intellectual, social, economic, and legal
ramifications as well.
Task force members, who have been meeting electronically and via
conference call, will hold their first face-to-face encounter at the
American Library Association Conference in Philadelphia this week.
They expect to complete an interim report by May of this year.
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