First steps for securing digital media within an analogue archive

Isn't it a happy day when a new report on digital preservation appears in your in-box at just the right time? The following report from OCLC is just one of these. I have been in the new post as Digital Archivist for the Borthwick Institute for Archives for 3 months now and had been thinking about what to do with the digital material that is buried deep in the strongrooms of our building.

You've Got to Walk Before You Can Run: First Steps for Managing Born-Digital Content Received on Physical Media by Ricky Erway, OCLC Research

This report describes a simple but straightforward set of steps for locating and securing digital media that exist in a traditional analogue archive. It works on the premis that doing something now is far better than waiting until a more complete digital preservation solution is available. By simply locating the digital media, copying it to a more secure storage area and establishing what we have, we can instantly gain some level of control over our digital holdings. This will put us in a far stronger position for preserving these into the future.

I am currently creating a methodology based on this report and with reference also to the University of Hull's accessioning workflows described in the AIMS project white paper. Once this methodology has been agreed internally we can start work on this digital 'rescue' mission. I for one am very much looking forward to finding out what we have!

Jenny Mitcham, Digital Archivist