Digital Preservation in the United Kingdom.

In The Information Management Journal's July 2000 issue, this department characterized digital preservation as a global problem. Long-term preservation of digital data is orders of magnitude more difficult than preservation of physical records. Digital preservation endeavors in the United States are at least a decade behind the ideal, and unless there is a concerted effort to implement viable solutions, the digital records of today and tomorrow that are worth saving may be in grave jeopardy of loss.

This article looks at the status of digital preservation in the United Kingdom, a country with a rich documentary history dating back more than a thousand years. Whether the cultural heritage of Britain can be preserved in digital form is open to question; this is equally true for the United States and nations throughout the world.

It has been said that, in relation to their numbers, the British people have made a greater contribution to world civilization than any group of people since the ancient Greeks and Romans. We will see whether they can lay claim to such a feat in the sphere of digital preservation.

The National Preservation Office, part of the British Library, summarizes the problem's national dimensions:

Digital preservation remains relatively undeveloped. The United Kingdom lacks a strategy for the long-term preservation of digital information on a scale sufficiently large to support future scholarship and research. A strategy for digital preservation is part and parcel of any national information policy and it should be integral to any investment in digital libraries and information superhighways.

According to Digital Culture: Maximizing the Nation's Investment, leading members of Britain's digital preservation community conclude that there exists

* wide concern that digital resources are being lost and agreement on the need for a campaign to promote general public awareness concerning the digital preservation problem

* agreement that most organizations have not yet addressed the implications of digital preservation; policies and other technical guidance addressing best practices are not available

* acknowledgment of digital information creators' critical role and their responsibility for long-term preservation

* general concern about the ownership of digital material and the protection of intellectual property rights

* universal concern about preservation costs, particularly that the scale of costs is unknown

* no consensus on how digital preservation might be financed, although there is wide acknowledgment that funding through tax revenues will be required to support a solution of national scope

* belief that a national policy on digital preservation is needed and that a central national body should assume leadership in promoting standards and best practices

Notwithstanding this somewhat gloomy assessment, there are several significant British initiatives on digital preservation. If they can be developed to fruition during the next decade or so, Britain's digital records may have a future.

Digital Preservation Initiatives

Although recognized as a problem for some years, until recently most efforts to address digital preservation in the United Kingdom were local in character, confined to specific government agencies, universities, or businesses. Recently, however, the problem has been addressed at a much higher level and is now correctly seen in a national context. The United Kingdom's many significant and exciting initiatives have significance for the international community. These initiatives are summarized below:

* In November 1995, the first national conference on digital preservation was held in Warwick, England, sponsored by the Joint Information Services Committee (JISC) of the Higher Education Funding Councils and the British Library. This meeting led to another a year later, where it was agreed that the JISC and the National Preservation Office would fund several studies relating to digital preservation. (See "References" at the conclusion of this article.) Considered as a whole, these studies constitute valuable source materials for anyone contemplating long-term preservation of digital objects. The Digital Archives Working Group, comprised of leading parties interested in digital preservation throughout Britain, led these efforts under the auspices of the National Preservation Office.

* A Framework of Data Types and Formats, and Issues Affecting the Long Term Preservation of Digital Material (Bennett 1997) develops a framework of data types and formats appropriate for supporting long-term retention of digital data.

* Comparison of Methods and Costs of Digital Preservation (Hendley 1998) compares preservation methodologies and costing models as a basis for determining the most appropriate method of long-term data preservation.

* Another particularly significant study, Responsibility for Digital Archiving and Long-term Access to Digital Data (Haynes et.al. 1997), recommends that a publicly funded national body be established to support digital preservation efforts nationwide.

* A Strategic Policy Framework for Creating and Preserving Digital Collections (Beagrie and Greenstein 1998) addresses digital preservation in the context of the life cycle of data. As this is particularly relevant to records and information management practitioners, we will review this study's details later.

* Finally, Digital Archaeology: The Recovery of Digital Materials at Risk (Ross and Gow 1998) addresses the recovery or "rescue" of digital data when its integrity is imperiled due to abandonment or rapid hardware and software obsolescence.

While each study is worthy of attention by any serious digital preservation student, all have been summarized in one excellent volume -- Digital Culture: Maximizing the Nation's Investment, edited by Mary Feeney and published by the National Preservation Office in 1999.

The National Archives

The national archives of Britain, which is properly known as the Public Record Office (PRO), has responded positively to the challenge of digital preservation. The PRO has issued policy guidelines that address the long-term storage of electronic records created on office systems. The guidelines require that electronic records earmarked for permanent or long-term retention be migrated to new technology platforms and converted to standard file formats. The formats specified are postscript, Adobe's portable document format (PDF), tagged image file format (TIFF), standard generalized markup language (SGML), and comma separated variable ASCII for alphanumeric data. The PRO endorses preservation strategies in which electronic documents' format and presentation are preserved along with their content.

The PRO's digital preservation guidelines also address proprietary applications where, for example, vital attribute data and links between documents are retained in office suite software, groupware, or electronic document management software. In such cases, the guidelines recommend preserving the operating environment that maintains the data until the links can be captured in a standard form.

A Comprehensive Preservation Model

In the United States, one major problem with digital preservation efforts is that they tend to be fragmented; that is, they do not encompass the full spectrum of digital resources. The library community focuses on e-books, the archives and records management communities focus on e-records and documents, the entertainment and media industry focus on visual, speech, and sound recordings, and so on. It is refreshing to observe that the British seem to be adopting a more comprehensive model for digital preservation. The Digital Culture work clearly defines nine categories of digital resources, indicates the applications used to create and manage them, and suggests appropriate preservation strategies for each.

The table shows the major categories of digital resources, their principal characteristics, and recommended preservation strategies.

Category            Characteristics

Data sets           Alphanumeric data residing in a
                    wide variety of data processing
                    applications; managed in flat file,
                    networked, hierarchical; relational
                    and object-oriented databases

Structured text /   Alphanumeric data, markup data,
office documents    tags to other data types (e.g. raster
                    and vector graphics) residing in
                    word processing / office suites
                    and document imaging /
                    electronic document management
                    software systems, relational
                    databases, and other application-specific
                    document type environments

Design data         Vector and raster graphics and
                    alphanumeric data in CAD
                    systems and object-oriented
                    conversion to standard databases

Presentation        Alphanumeric data in business
graphics            graphics, clip art, full motion
                    video; and computer-based
                    training multimedia

Visual images       Raster graphics and alphanumeric
                    data residing in image capture /
                    editing software and object
                    oriented, relational and flat file
                    databases of photo libraries,
                    digital collections of fine art,
                    medical image collections

Speech and          Audio data in speech processing,
sound recordings    audio recording relational and flat
                    file databases in music libraries
                    and similar repositories

Video recordings    Digital video, full screen / motion
                    video in digital video frames
                    stored as bit maps and audio files
                    stored in relational and flat file
                    databases in music libraries and
                    similar repositories

Geographic /        Vector and raster graphics and
mapping data        alphanumeric data geographical
                    information systems (GIS) and
                    mapping software. Data stored in
                    relational and object-oriented
                    databases.

Interactive         Audio and video data, moving
multimedia          graphics, vector and raster graphics,
publications        and alphanumeric data stored in
                    authoring and editing software in
                    e-publishing environments

                    Recommended
Category            Preservation Strategy

Data sets           Migration to newer
                    platforms and
                    conversion to standard
                    formats

Structured text /   Migration to newer
office documents    platforms, conversion to
                    standard formats, and
                    media refreshing

Design data         Backward compatibility,
                    interoperability, and
                    formats with technology
                    emulation as a short-term
                    strategy for product
                    data on obsolete systems.
                    Also media refreshing

Presentation        Backward compatibility,
graphics            conversion to standard
                    formats, and media
                    refreshing

Visual images       Backward compatibility,
                    conversion to standard
                    formats, and media
                    refreshing

Speech and          Backward compatibility,
sound recordings    conversion to standard
                    formats and media
                    refreshing (This is a
                    specialized area that
                    needs additional work
                    by digital preservation
                    specialists.)

Video recordings    Backward compatibility,
                    conversion to standard
                    formats, and media
                    refreshing. Technology
                    preservation is needed
                    in short-term situations
                    where data is locked in
                    proprietary systems.

Geographic /        Backward compatibility,
mapping data        conversion to standard
                    formats, and media
                    refreshing. Technology
                    preservation is needed in
                    short-term situations
                    where data is locked in
                    proprietary systems.

Interactive         Technology preservation
multimedia          is needed in short-term
publications        situations where data is
                    locked in proprietary
                    systems until standards
                    can be agreed to and
                    widely adopted.

Digital Preservation and the Life Cycle Concept

The Beagrie and Greenstein study previously mentioned defines four principal stages in the digital data life cycle:

1. Data creation -- Decisions made when digital materials are created are generally based on current processing and usage considerations, but they often have a major impact on subsequent preservation options.

2. Data management and preservation -- Consists of five substages: (1) acquisition, retention, or disposal; (2) data structure; (3) data description and documentation; (4) data storage; and (5) data preservation.

3. Data use -- Involves decisions concerning how digital resources will be delivered and used. The nature and frequency of data usage decline and change over time, and digital resources frequently take on values different from the purpose for which they were created. These factors strongly affect decisions concerning preservation.

4. Rights management -- Deals with intellectual property rights, data protection, and confidentiality issues. In U.S. models, this aspect is seldom seen as a separate stage in the information life cycle.

Most U.S.-based data life cycle models consider the several subparts of stage two to be life cycle stages in their own right. It is during stage two that most records managers and archivists intervene in the data management process to schedule electronic records for retention and to accession and preserve data of archival value.

A Model for the U.S.

There is much in Britain's digital preservation efforts that is worthy of emulation. For example, just as Britain has the National Preservation Office, the United States needs a single entity with the resources and authority to assume national leadership over the broad spectrum of digital preservation, encompassing government, businesses, libraries, archival institutions, research data banks, media archives and libraries, and the like.

The closest comparable U.S. institutions are the National Archives' Center for Electronic Records (the U.S. government's central arm for digital archives) and the Commission on Preservation and Access, which sponsors and publishes studies in digital preservation. Consequently, there is no single U.S. institution capable of making digital preservation the national priority it deserves to be.

The United States is a large and diverse country, and although its technology resources are vast, efforts to date in digital preservation have been fragmentary and relatively small scale -- wholly inadequate to meet the challenge of ensuring the preservation of the nation's digital resources of enduring value.

The United States also needs an effort such as Britain's Digital Culture: Maximising the Nation's Investment mentioned previously. It is hoped that this will occur during the next few years.

The United States and other nations must solve their digital preservation problems within the next 10 to 20 years. The digital clock will continue to tick; with every passing year, digital resources are at greater risk of losing their integrity and utility.

REFERENCES

Beagrie, N. and D. Greenstein. "A Strategic Policy Framework for Creating and Preserving Digital Collections." British Library Research and Innovation Report 107. London: United Kingdom. 1998.

Bennett, J.C. "A Framework of Data Types and Formats, and Issues Affecting the Long Term Preservation of Digital Material." British Library Research and Innovation Report 50. London: United Kingdom. 1997.

Feeney, Mary, ed. Digital Culture: Maximising the Nation's Investment. London: National Preservation Office, The British Library. 1999.

Final Guidelines on the Management of Electronic Records from Office Systems. Public Record Office. London: United Kingdom. 1998.

Guide to Depositing Data. The Data Archive, University of Essex.

Haynes, D., D. Streatfield, T. Jowett., and M. Blake. "Responsibility for Digital Archiving and Long-term Access to Digital Data." British Library Research and Innovation Report 67. The British Library, London: United Kingdom. 1997.

Hendley. T. "Comparison of Methods and Costs of Digital Preservation." British Library Research and Innovation Report 106. London: United Kingdom. 1998.

Matthews, G., A. Poulter, and E. Blagg. "Preservation of Digital Materials Policy and Strategy Issues for the UK." British Library Research and Innovation Report 41. London: United Kingdom. 1997.

Ross, S. and A. Gow. "Digital Archaeology: The Recovery of Digital Materials at Risk." British Library Research and Innovation Report 108. London: United Kingdom. 1999.

Waters, D. and J. Garrett. "Preserving Digital Information." Washington, DC: Commission on Preservation and Access and Research Libraries Group. 1996. Available at http//www.rlg.org/ArchTF/(accessed 26 September 2000).

David Stephens, CRM, CMC, FAI is vice president for the records management consulting firm of Zasio Enterprises Inc. He has been a consultant in the field of records management for more than 18 years and has published books and articles about information management in the United States and abroad. The author may be reached at [e-mail].