Relay-supporting Archives: Requirements and Progress

We characterize long-term preservation of digital content as an extended relay in time, in which repeated handoffs of information occur independently at every architectural layer: at the physical layer, where bits are handed off between storage systems; at the logical layer, where digital objects a...

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Main Authors: Greg Janée, James Frew, Terry Moore
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Edinburgh 2009-06-01
Series:International Journal of Digital Curation
Online Access:https://129.215.67.1/ijdc/article/view/78
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author Greg Janée
James Frew
Terry Moore
author_facet Greg Janée
James Frew
Terry Moore
author_sort Greg Janée
collection DOAJ
description We characterize long-term preservation of digital content as an extended relay in time, in which repeated handoffs of information occur independently at every architectural layer: at the physical layer, where bits are handed off between storage systems; at the logical layer, where digital objects are handed off between repository systems; and at the administrative layer, where collections of objects and relationships are handed off between archives, curators, and institutions.  We examine the support of current preservation technologies for these handoffs, note shortcomings, and argue that some modest improvements would result in a "relay-supporting" preservation infrastructure, one that provides a baseline level of preservation by mitigating the risk of fundamental information loss.  Finally, we propose a series of tests to validate a relay-supporting infrastructure, including a second Archive Ingest and Handling Test (AIHT).
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spelling doaj.art-89e81c6f81ea468e92fb19f79f257b652023-12-12T23:52:30ZengUniversity of EdinburghInternational Journal of Digital Curation1746-82562009-06-0141Relay-supporting Archives: Requirements and ProgressGreg JanéeJames FrewTerry Moore We characterize long-term preservation of digital content as an extended relay in time, in which repeated handoffs of information occur independently at every architectural layer: at the physical layer, where bits are handed off between storage systems; at the logical layer, where digital objects are handed off between repository systems; and at the administrative layer, where collections of objects and relationships are handed off between archives, curators, and institutions.  We examine the support of current preservation technologies for these handoffs, note shortcomings, and argue that some modest improvements would result in a "relay-supporting" preservation infrastructure, one that provides a baseline level of preservation by mitigating the risk of fundamental information loss.  Finally, we propose a series of tests to validate a relay-supporting infrastructure, including a second Archive Ingest and Handling Test (AIHT).https://129.215.67.1/ijdc/article/view/78
spellingShingle Greg Janée
James Frew
Terry Moore
Relay-supporting Archives: Requirements and Progress
International Journal of Digital Curation
title Relay-supporting Archives: Requirements and Progress
title_full Relay-supporting Archives: Requirements and Progress
title_fullStr Relay-supporting Archives: Requirements and Progress
title_full_unstemmed Relay-supporting Archives: Requirements and Progress
title_short Relay-supporting Archives: Requirements and Progress
title_sort relay supporting archives requirements and progress
url https://129.215.67.1/ijdc/article/view/78
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AT terrymoore relaysupportingarchivesrequirementsandprogress