Network of Expertise in Long-Term Storage of Digital Resources
- Duration:
- 01.07.2003 - 30.06.2009
- Contact Persons:
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Matthias Hemmje
- Sponsored by:
- Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung
- Reference number:
- 54231211
- Patisipating Institutions:
-
- Die Deutsche National Bibliothek
- Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen
- Computer- und Medienservice und Universitätsbibliothek der Humboldt-Universität Berlin
- Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
- Institut für Museumskunde der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin / Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz
- Bundesarchiv
- FernUniversität in Hagen, Fakultät Mathematik und Informatik, Lehrgebiet Multimedia und Internetanwendungen
- Geoforschungszentrum Potsdam
- Universität der Bundeswehr München, Institut für Softwaretechnologie
- Otto-von-Guericke-Universität Magdeburg, Fakultät für Informatik
- FernUniversität in Hagen, Fachbereich Informatik, Lehrgebiet Rechnerarchitektur
Problem
Online publications are continually gaining importance. Be they electronic journals, reference databases, abstract services or independent publications (online dissertations, eBooks) - formerly printed works are increasingly being published in the Internet alongside their printed versions. In some sections online documents are already starting to take the upper hand. Results generated in the field of science and research are based on digital primary data and are then themselves published via digital platforms. Considerable amounts are also being invested in the subsequent digitization of printed publications and this is generating huge quantities of digital information. Archives are faced with electronic files which need to be transferred to digital records and stored long-term. Museums are accepting digital artefacts in their collections and, in line with their function as information mediators, are playing an important role in creating and preserving digital objects. The long-term accessibility of all digital resources of lasting value must be preserved - this despite the changing conditions arising from rapid technological development. The aim of saving them as part of our cultural heritage is to facilitate an accurate account of our social, historical, technical and artistic development. Scientific work is always based on existing findings. The long-term accessibility of digital resources is therefore essential to ensure that our educational, scientific and economic systems remain competitive.
Approach
The project's objective is to create a network of expertise in long-term storage of digital resources for Germany. As the perspective of current and future archive users is central to the project, the emphasis is put on long-term accessibility. Within the project the following offers will be created: a web-based information forum, a platform for information and communication, criteria for trusted digital repositories, recommendations for certification procedures of digital repositories, recommendations for collecting guidelines and selection criteria of digital resources to be archived, guidelines and policies, the concept for a permanent organisation form of the network of expertise in digital preservation. The long-term goal is a permanent distributed infrastructure for long-term preservation and long-term accessability of digital resources in Germany comparable e.g. to the Digital Preservation Coalition in the UK.
Procedure
The application for nestor II, a joint project of the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, SUB Göttingen, BSB München, HUB Berlin, Bundesarchiv, Institut für Museumskunde and FernUniversität Hagen, is currently being considered. A key content-related priority for the project will be to interlink the fields of e-Science, grid-computing and the long-term preservation of digital resources.
A major task in the second phase of the project is also creating the necessary organisational, political and financial conditions for the competence network as a means of anchoring the entire subject area and associated activities on a permanent basis in Germany. This task applies equally to the preservation of the written (carrier-bound) cultural heritage in Germany, and accordingly a joint initiative between nestor and the "Allianz zur Erhaltung des schriftlichen Kulturgutes" (Alliance for the Preservation of Written Cultural Heritage) is also being prepared.
