Technical Architecture

DLF – Baltimore, MD

October 2004

What is the Preservation Architecture?

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•A conceptual framework for supporting the technical functions and developing tools required for cooperative, distributed preservation of digital content

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•It must

–support relationships between institutions.

–allow questions of preservation to be handled separately from questions of public access.

–be built modularly, using existing technology and efforts wherever possible.

–be able to be assembled over time.

–be specified using broadly adoptable protocols.

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	This is the first research funding program to focus specifically on digital preservation.

	Clearly, this is a critical issue. More and more of what we consider to be cultural heritage is becoming digital—and therefore worthy of sustaining over time.

	But there really are no guaranteed approaches to preserving most digital objects; for example it’s not even clear how to preserve a typical web page. Everyone in the cultural heritage business needs tools and methods to do a better job in this area.