The Past is Prologue To Our Future! Chris Erickson - Brigham Young University

For he said that the history of his people should be engraven upon his other plates … Jacob 1: 3 Records are important

“Of all the wonderful buildings that we have on this campus, none, I believe, is as important as the library. A library is the very heart and substance of a university." President Gordon B. Hinckley, Library dedication, Nov. 2000

Library’s Millennial Mission " …the Lee Library is not only a library for a thousand years but a library with a millennial mission." President Merrill J. Bateman Library dedication

How much information? 5 exabytes of new information were produced in 2002, in print, film, magnetic, and optical media. 92% of this information was stored in magnetic form.

University Issues Today Faculty: records & research being lost Technical: cost of storage, managing Legal: records lifecycle management Historical: digital items not preserved General: Short digital lifespan

Preservation Timeframe A document that cannot be accessed, read and used in 20 years from now is a lost document Establishing a Digital Preservation Strategy. TASI

Ancient Documents

Current Documents?

What is Digital Preservation? Digital preservation refers to the series of managed activities necessary to ensure continued access to and preservation of digital materials. Kelly Russell. Digital Preservation and the Cedars Project Experience Digital preservation is a continuous obligation

Digital Preservation Mission To preserve and maintain readability and accessibility for all selected digital materials produced within or acquired by Brigham Young University

Preservation Activities Organizational and structural  Establish preservation processes Ongoing financial support Legal and rights management Technical infrastructure Lifecycle Management Personnel and training opportunities Integration with other institutions

Technical Preservation Technical infrastructure  Safe digital storage facility  Best practices  Hardware, software, media  Quality control and verification  Repository: Documentum, DSpace  Description / metadata  User Access

Digital Collections How do we preserve our resources?

BYU Electronic Archival Management System Administration - Legal - Archives - Records Management - O I T - Digital Preservation Administration of Archive System FACULTY University Records Committee Selection & Acquisition User Access Data Management Archives / Storage Metadata STUDENTS Faculty Research Publications Curriculum content KBYU Media University Records... Others Processing Testing BYU Provo - BYU Idaho - BYU Hawaii - CES - LDS Business College Church Office Building Modeled on OAIS Standard Preservation Research and Planning & Descriptive Info Distribution Info Archival Info

Our Responsibility Each generation makes its own contributions to those who follow.... One owes the responsibility of preserving what they have received Elder Ray H. Wood Speech at BYU Idaho - February 26, 2003

"Today is... a day to look to our future… We see that future more clearly when we understand more fully our past " President Cecil O. Samuelson Inaugural Address Used with permission of President Samuelson

Preserve Today’s Past For Tomorrow’s Future

Chris L. Erickson Digital Preservation Officer Brigham Young University 2004 © Chris Erickson Brigham Young University