Preserving Canada's Digital Heritage

In Canada we are losing digital information almost as quickly as we are creating it. As a result our digital heritage is not being effectively preserved. There are numerous examples of this such as the loss of much of the Canada Land Inventory data. Here the loss would have been much greater had not a dedicated group of volunteers stepped in to help. There have been numerous studies and conferences to highlight the nature of the problem but to date no concrete steps have been taken in the form of action. It cannot be left only to Library and Archives Canada. The solution lies in coordinated action at the National level. The proposed strategy is largely silent on preservation issues. We need to consider these not as an afterthought but as an integral part of the content creation lifecycle. The solutions have been identified but nobody seems to have the mandate(or the budget!) to imlement them.

Comments

IMAA–AAMI — 2010–07–05 18:21:46 EDT wrote

The loss of both digital and legacy analog information is particularly serious in the audio–visual sector. Large portions of Canadian cultural expression — in effect the possibility of history and memory in digital culture — will disappear if concerted action is not taken. Coordinated national strategies would assist civil society, non–profit organizations and the cultural community in addressing identifying media and digital assets, developing strategies and best practices for decision–making and preservation projects, carrying out these activities out, and incorporating provision for future migration into new creation as well. The skills and resources required for these initiatives are often well beyond what community–based organizations have access to.

Even as it is understood that wholesale preservation is impossible, there is widespread consensus about the value of memory and heritage in many sectors. For example, in the built environment, a set of infrastructures support individuals, organizations and communities in taking action to identify, preserve and share heritage buildings. This principle can and should be extended in national policies and programs to support the identification, preservation and accessibility of media assets in to the media arts, and arts and culture sectors.

dsampson — 2010–06–30 08:37:50 EDT wrote

Teach people how to archive things to the Internet Archive. Maybe we need a Canadian version of the Internet Archive.