Rethinking Digital Preservation: Conceptual Foundations

Abstract

In support of a multi-year initiative to revitalize its core digital preservation infrastructure, the Harvard Library is engaged in an open-ended exploration of an ideal system solution. The individual components of that ideal cohere into abstract functional and informational reference models, which act as aspirational benchmarks for requirements and subsequent procurement and deployment activities. The models are derived through the logical refinement of a small set of high-level axiomatic principles. These reflect a conceptualization of digital preservation as an inherently communicative enterprise with an ultimate goal of complementing the persistence of authentic digital information objects with that of opportunities for legitimate information experiences.