Well, it’s not really a blog: it’s more a jumble of notes.
I work for a UK local authority archives service and have been tasked to research digital preservation. This seems as good a place as any to jot down things I stumble across.
Feel free to comment on specific posts, especially if you are in the same boat.
Cheers
Alan
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March 26, 2009 at 10:20 am
Harriet walsh
Hi Alan
I found your blog from 2008 googling for folk who’s thinking about the longterm sustainability of digital archives.
Would be interesting to know where you’re at with this now, we’re early stage planning an archive which includes useful information for living sustainably as well as historic stuff, so are keen to set up something that makes sense in the context of peak oil.
April 15, 2009 at 9:05 am
alanake
Hi Harriet
Yes I am still around! This year I am heavily involved with multiple archive repository moves, so digi pres has had to take a back seat, sadly.
Whether or not something “makes sense in the context of peak oil” depends on how the end of oil is actually going to play out. If it’s a long slow decline then we can proceed step by step, making preservation decisions unhurriedly. If it’s a sudden crash (unlikely but the probability is not zero) then we are all going to be walking around ghost cities eating trees and pets, and digital preservation simply won’t be on our radar.
I suspect it’s going to be a slow decline, forcing us to make a return to locally-based power and food systems, rather than relying on a national grid. If we’re serious about digi pres in that kind of world then we need to emphasise having lots of small repositories, rather than one or two big repositories; we need to ensure that information is stored in multiple locations, like LOCKSS; we need to reduce the fossil fuel-footprint of the hardware. So less plastic and oil. And more wood and brass!
April 11, 2012 at 2:06 pm
Kari S.
The year of your blog is 2009 … but seems like it’s current information. Is there a way to change it to the actual year?
May 16, 2012 at 11:35 am
agrunnet
Hi i found your blog on googling to.. This i 2012 – I am also interested in knowing how status is. I am librarian student for Denmark. I am doing my master thesis on the “new digital humanities” and the long term preservation needs some space in my thesis..