By Teresa Wong
When people think about digital preservation, there tend to be many misunderstandings of what it is and what it encompasses. Common myths include: the belief that the digital lasts forever; that digital preservation is not something you have to worry about; that digital preservation requires a lot of technical knowledge to accomplish; and that there is “one true method” to digital preservation. As a result, many people are hesitant to learn more or get involved. This year’s theme for World Digital Preservation Day, “Breaking Down Barriers”, provides a great opportunity to debunk these myths.
Digital does not last forever
When comparing digital content to analogue, the digital actually lasts for a shorter period of time. This is even more so the case when it is left alone with no intervention. Digital content is susceptible to becoming corrupt, lost, or inaccessible at rapid rates. For example, the average hard drive has a life expectancy of 3 to 5 years. After 5 years of usage, there is a higher chance that the content saved on the hard drive becomes inaccessible or corrupt. Websites have an even shorter life expectancy of roughly 2 years.
Digital preservation is something we all should worry about (or at least consider)
Digital information and material are thoroughly integrated into our everyday lives. We use it to communicate through emails and social media. We manage our files and personal records through online services and software such as Microsoft Office. We also educate ourselves with online schooling, webinars, and online workshops.
Internet use has soared since the beginning of the pandemic with Statistics Canada reporting that 75% of Canadians over the age of 15 have increased their online activities. In addition, 48% of Canadians performed at least one new Internet-related activity for the first time. This increased engagement with online life means it is important to consider how to preserve materials created through these avenues if deemed important to the individual.
With the rapid advances in technology, our digital files require more active maintenance to ensure their use into the future. You can never be too sure how long your files will last or when the software and hardware necessary to access them will stop working or become obsolete. Even technology that was at one point ubiquitous can quickly disappear; a great example of this phenomenon is Adobe Flash Player. Flash content used to be extremely widespread as it was “the” most common online format for web games, animations, and graphical user interfaces. A decade ago, it felt like every website had some flash component to it. Yet in 2020, Adobe officially ended their support for Flash and Microsoft entirely removed Flash from all browsers. Similarly, in November 2020, Google announced a new storage policy where content saved to one’s storage “may” be deleted if a service becomes inactive or remains over the storage limit after two years. Circumstances can change drastically within a few years. If you have digital material of significance, be proactive to ensure their long-term access and preservation.
Digital preservation does not require technical knowledge to accomplish
The Digital Preservation Coalition defines digital preservation as a “series of managed activities necessary to ensure continued access to digital materials for as long as necessary.” This includes non-technical activities. In fact, a key part to digital preservation lies in the decision-making process. Not everything created digitally needs to be saved for the long term. It is necessary, then, to understand what matters most for people saving their content and how long it should be preserved for. You can easily start with brainstorming how to manage and organize your computer files. While there are very technical aspects to digital preservation, such as working on servers and using command line tools, there are plenty more non-technical activities that anyone can accomplish.
There is no one true method
Digital preservation is very dependent on an individual or institution’s needs and resources. An individual can periodically back up their digital photographs and files onto an external hard drive with ease or to a cloud storage service without incurring additional costs. This level of digital preservation is sufficient if it meets their needs. In contrast, an institution like the John M. Kelly Library requires various workflows and servers that vary between departments based on their needs. Not everyone needs to go above and beyond for digital preservation, while other times minimal intervention isn’t enough for what someone wants to do. What is most important is to take action that best suits your needs.