Oya Y. Rieger (Ithaka S+R) has released a new report detailing the challenges and gaps in library digital preservation strategies. The report highlights a number of areas of strength, including stronger communities of practice, shared infrastructure, and new systems and tools. Interviewees also, however, pointed to a number of difficulties: the cost of storage, the unclear role of research libraries in data management, and the lack of assessment metrics. Additionally, respondents pointed to the need to attend to cultural and social issues:
Interviewees also expressed the need to evaluate our archiving efforts to select and preserve content through the lens of inclusivity, diversity, and social justice. For instance, there were a couple of references to the importance of considering the history, criticism, and philosophy of digital culture and its impact on society. Several interviewees stressed the historic significance of documenting hate speeches, fake news, and unearthing and preserving government websites taken down due to politicized rhetoric, such as with climate change and energy.
dh+lib readers may find the report’s future research directions useful for their own institutional contexts.
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This post was produced through a cooperation among Jennifer Matthews, Valentina Vavassori, Christine Davidian, Joseph Grobelny, Patti McCall, Susanne Pichler, and Dale J. Correa (Editors-at-large for the week), Sarah Melton (Editor for the week), and Caitlin Christian-Lamb, Nickoal Eichmann-Kalwara, Roxanne Shirazi, and Patrick Williams (dh+lib Review Editors).