SOME (PROVOCATIVE) CONSIDERATIONS ABOUTPRESERVATION, SYSTEMS AND PERFECT WORLDS (USING ALOT OF QUOTES)

Automation in Digital Preservation

计算机科学;物理学;数学

José Borbinha

Others  :  http://drops.dagstuhl.de/opus/volltexte/2010/2897/pdf/10291.BorbinhaJose.ExtAbstract.2897.pdf
PID  :  44940

学科分类：计算机科学（综合）

来源: CEUR

【 摘 要 】

The subjectWe are used to define digital preservation as, generally, the taking of measures and actionsintended to assure that digital objects created nowadays can be interpreted at any momentin the future. This is a simple definition, and there is nothing wrong with it.The (in many cases wrong) assumptionThe problem comes however when we try to put that in place. The actual referencesrecommend looking to OAIS, and start addressing the problem from there. However, Ibelieve that such attitude can be not only lazy but also dangerous.The “OAIS perspective” is based on the assumption that the solution will be the buildingof a system for digital preservation. It means we should accept, implicitly and withoutquestion that the solution to the problem is to build a specific system for that purpose.Making it costly (for nothing)Assuming that the solution is really to build a new system, it also means that we’ll have anextra cost (of building a new system)! That not only never is good, as in some cases wealso might realize it will be “for nothing”. I stress this “for nothing”, because in fact digitalpreservation never will bring us any new value “per si”.Let us imagine I want to communicate with someone else that is far away of me and thatfor such a purpose I want to use a simple, cheap and ubiquitous technology. Therefore, forthat, I might consider using “email”. In this case I can claim that I’m making use of avaluable technology, with value for a natural human need, in order to surpass a humanlimitation, so it makes sense to build a specific technological system for that, an “emailsystem”.However, if we’ll have to build a “digital preservation system” we cannot claim that suchsystem is an answer to any natural human need! In fact, such a kind of solution will beonly a “patch” for what is really an imperfect technological paradigm. Concluding thisclaim, from the “OAIS perspective” we accept from the beginning that we need to build“digital preservation systems” because our other related technological systems areimperfect.Is that wrong or is that right? Well, if we’ll have no other option, than that might be right.In fact, that has been what we’ve been advising traditional libraries and archives to do. Butthat has been because those are entities traditionally located close to the the end of theinformation production chain (or at least of the end of the first round of the circle). TheseDagstuhl Seminar Proceedings 10291