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Janet Vavra The rapid development of digital resources and the relative ease with which digital information has been collected over the past several decades makes our society one with a wealth of information on all aspects of modern life. Future generations will continue building on these riches as more data flows into organizations, libraries, and archives. It would seem that we should leave future generations a well-documented history. But this abundance of information could quickly fade and disappear entirely, if preservation is not an ongoing part of the archiving process. There is an ongoing concern about the preservation of digital materials among professionals responsible for the archiving and maintenance of these materials. This concern spans all fields and exists in a variety of settings. As these materials make their way into holdings, archivists and librarians are quickly recognizing that digital materials have limited life stages because of the rapidly changing technological world. Accordingly, digital preservation must be part of the archiving process right at the beginning and must be ongoing throughout the life of a collection. This presentation will look at some of the challenges of digital preservation, what can be done to meet the challenges, and what the future make look like. Janet Vavra |