To retain information for significant periods of time it is critical to face up to the challenges of digital preservation

A basic repository is a good start but its preservation is essentially passive – it can ensure the bytes retrieved are exactly the same as those saved but cannot ensure that these bytes are usable using today’s technology. A strategy to deal with this challenge must be based on “Active Preservation” – moving information to forms usable today or providing tools to allow old information to be read.

Two basic approaches are accepted. The first involves the managed migration from one format to a newer one. This turns out to be surprisingly complex and requires specialist approaches that are validated and verifiable. The second is equally complex – provide a simulated computer environment that allows older versions of the operating systems and applications to run on today’s computing platforms.

Genuine long term archives should offer both of these techniques to enable the future readability of the content they manage.