Class this week was discussing digital preservation which was very interesting as there are so many form of digital items. I really was not surprised, but interested, when I realized that so much of digital preservation had to do with Metadata. I am currently taking Metadata, and working on cataloging a digital collection with some of my classmates, and I can totally see how it connects to Preservation and Conservation. I found it interesting that when you start looking at cataloging digital items one of the main things you need to think about is access. I knew (somewhere in the back of my mind) that other countries, like China, had restrictions on what people could see as far as digital information, but I had not thought about how you catalog something you can also influence people's access to information. It was also interesting as the two types of digital items influence the issues with digital media. If something is born digital I believe that it is easier to preserve it. That is not to say that an item would be in danger of losing some of its integrity if you migrate it to another digital medium; however, it is more likely that this problem would be prominent if the item you wish to migrate was made into a digital item from a CD, or something.
My group also met briefly to discuss the game. We mostly went over what little we needed to finish, when it needed to be done so I could do the final editing as well as how we were going to be doing the editing section of the work. I also updated my group on the budget proposal that I had been working on for not only the Tech Services department, but 2 others as well. I had been spending the last week compiling information on the creation of the repair area and putting together a budget for it. It was actually more difficult than I thought it would be. Mostly the hard part was making sure that we weren't doubling-up on items between departments. There ended up being a lot more items than I thought there would be. Plus I had to research what we could use to create the space that would be reasonable in cost, durable, and have plenty of storage. It was interesting to say the least.
Chapter 6: Issues in Digital Archiving
In this chapter one line really stood out to me, "...professional librarians are uniquely qualified to take up the technological challenge. But if we do not, we will contribute to the stagnation of our own profession as well as fail in our responsibility to civilization. (p. 99)" This was especially important to me as I can see that lacking in keeping up with technology could create a self-damaging cycle for librarians and libraries. If you do not have the newest form of technology at your disposal, then how do you keep patrons interested? However, how to you keep materials in a useful form if the newest digital technology is not compatible or feasible? Users may wish their library had iPads to check out, but is that really the best way for a library to use its resources? Still as librarians we need to look at the long-term affects technology will be and is having on the environment we work in.
Chapter 17: Digitization for Preservation and Access
This chapter was somewhat repetitive, but its basic concepts were laid out very clearly. I can understand that microfilm is a great product for many libraries. We had already learned that if stored and taken care of correctly it has an extremely long life, but for many patrons, microfilm is not a good source for information. Personally, I would much rather look at a PDF rather than microfilm. It was interesting to me that there are not really standards or guidelines for digital media. I would have thought that the ALA or IFLA or someone would have started to come up with a general set of digital guidelines, as digitization of objects is really becoming a priority for libraries/librarians. Of course that also falls into the sad fact that most digital media is not thought of in the long-term. It reminds me of the new version of planet of the apes. In that there is a library, with a digital custodian (or librarian, if you will). the books have crumbled away and the custodians program is starting to fall apart. At that point I always wonder, didn't they have a backup plan? Of course it doesn't come to this, but if your digital collection is gone, and you have no physical collection anymore, then what precautions did you take to insure you had materials for the future?
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