As much as digital technology provides many benefits to the information profession regarding access, the drawbacks of digital systems can render them problematic for long-term preservation. The articles for this week explore the complexities of a topic that may not be initially considered when a digital collection is created. One the most important aspects of modern technology is at the heart of preservation difficulties. This happens to be the planned obsolescence of hardware and software over a relatively short period of time. How is a system going to be able to change with the software and formats that become standard five years after its creation?
Digital resources on disks that can no longer be read by current hardware and software are useless to the organization that created those resources. As more and more digital resources are created, the preservation issue will take on greater importance in the planning of digital collections. The Open Archival Information Systems model is an attempt to confront the issue.
The number of ways data can be lost in digital systems is frightening. There is the predictable possibility of storage devices ceasing to function. Information could also be added to the system incorrectly, resulting in the absence of that data. One of the more insidious sources of data loss mentioned in Littman's article is a software that deletes files because of an error in its code. These digital resources are extremely vulnerable, perhaps more vulnerable than the analog material they are replacing.
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