Digital Preservation in Libraries: An Overview

Abstract

Preservation of conventional resources became more flourishing and organized when the libraries and archives started incorporating preservation into their overall planning and resource allocation. Digital preservation is fundamentally experimental as well as full of risks linked with untested Digital preservation strategies. Archives hold millions of documents like manuscripts, rare books, paintings, photographs, and historical records, which represent human heritage. With the passage of time, paper manuscripts start getting fragile and brittle because of various reasons including environmental and climate changes. Lamination does not seem to be a permanent solution of preservation of this cultural heritage for future generations. Digitization technology has a lot of benefits associated with it for the effective preservation and future access of this heritage. A document becomes perpetual and can be accessed for long after it proper digitization irrespective of the existence of the original document. Another benefit of providing access of a document in digital format is that it results in considerable reduction in physical handling of the original hard copy of the document. Digital Preservation is a set of various organized procedures and activities, which are required to be carried out for the purpose of ensuring everlasting availability of the material in digital format for its usage. It is a challenging task because of being a complex process. The present paper deals with the basic concept of Digital Preservation, its need, relevance, objectives, and strategies. It also discusses about the overview of technological approaches and strategies to digital preservation and its benefits and challenges in the libraries.