Conference Programme

Archivematica is an open source software platform that incorporates the community's experiences and skills to create a robust digital preservation processing system. This paper describes Archivematica as a case study for sustained digital-preservation software. This paper briefly covers the software's history before exploring in more detail the components that make Archivematica what it is today, taking in some of the benefits and some of the current limitations of the approach. Looking to the future these limitations are also discussed, as well as other considerations about how the system, and how the software can move forward alongside the entire digital preservation community.

For many memory institutions, policies, procedures, and practices are built on the realities of analog records. The belief that digital content can be appraised, acquired, described, and made accessible using the same methods as paper records can inhibit the development of end-to-end digital preservation programs. To start to address this challenge, I developed a collaborative model for digital knowledge transfer based on adult education theory. The model has shown great promise for building digital capacity, capability, and community amongst my colleagues at Library and Archives Canada. This paper outlines the concepts that drive the model, as well as the three steps that are required for its implementation. As analog preconceptions often influence the thinking of those who are responsible for relationships with records creators, as well as the acquisition and processing of digital content, such collaboration and capacity building is a necessity for the success of end-to-end digital preservation programs.

Different digital objects have different preservation requirements involving strategies, policies and practices that go beyond the capacity of a single archival institution. The variety and complexity of digital objects requires specific knowledge for ingesting and the preservation of file formats. Large data files call for a different storage set-up than the approach required for the preservation and distribution of small objects. Building an organizational and technological infrastructure that can cope with the diversity and complexity of digital objects involves an effort that far exceeds what a middle-sized institution can do alone. This paper describes how the Amsterdam City Archives aims to collaborate with other non-profit institutions and partners to improve the quality of the preservation of and access to digital objects while reducing costs.