PERICLES – Digital Preservation through Management of Change in Evolving Ecosystems

A Problem of Long - Term Digital Preservation: Difference in Humanities and Natural Sciences

Bibliotheca Lituana ◽

10.15388/bibllita.2014.3.15570 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

pp. 183-195

Author(s):

Elena Macevičiūtė

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Digital Preservation ◽

Dynamic Activity ◽

Private Companies ◽

Time Line ◽

Digital Documents ◽

Whole Process ◽

The Difference ◽

Technological Science

The article deals with the requirements and needs for long-term digital preservation in different areas of scholarly work. The concept of long-term digital preservation is introduced by comparing it to digitization and archiving concepts and defined with the emphasis on dynamic activity within a certain time line. The structure of digital preservation is presented with regard to the elements of the activity as understood in Activity Theory. The life-cycle of digitization processes forms the basis of the main processing of preserved data in preservation archival system.The author draws on the differences between humanities and social sciences on one hand and natural and technological science on the other. The empirical data characterizing the needs for digital preservation within different areas of scholarship are presented and show the difference in approaches to long-term digital preservation, as well as differences in selecting the items and implementing the projects of digital preservation. Institutions and organizations can also develop different understanding of preservation requirements for digital documents and other objects.The final part of the paper is devoted to some general problems pertaining to the longterm digital preservation with the emphasis of the responsibility for the whole process of safe-guarding the cultural and scholarly heritage for the re-use of the posterior generations. It is suggested that the longevity of the libraries in comparison with much shorter life-span of private companies strengthens the claim of memory institutions to playing the central role in the long-term digital preservation.

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Integration of Digital Preservation Knowledge, Skills and Competencies in the Teaching Curricula of Library and Information Studies at the University of Botswana

Mousaion ◽

10.25159/2663-659x/6436 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 37 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thatayaone Segaetsho ◽

Julie Moloi

Keyword(s):

Digital Preservation ◽

Records Management ◽

Structured Interviews ◽

University Of Botswana ◽

Current Trends ◽

Teaching Content ◽

Library And Information Studies ◽

Information Studies ◽

The University

In the past few decades, digital technology has found a place in the acquisition, arrangement, description, preservation, and dissemination of information. However, heritage institutions are perturbed by the challenges of digital preservation strategies particularly for education. Despite continuous investment in digital preservation, there are limited skilled professionals to equip learners with the knowledge, skills and competencies required to drive digital preservation in Botswana. Therefore, this paper investigated the knowledge, skills and competencies related to digital preservation in the teaching curricula of the Department of Library and Information Studies (DLIS) at the University of Botswana. Data collection was done through intensive structured interviews with specific educators who teach courses on digital preservation in the archives and records management stream. The study revealed that despite the fact that the educators in preservation courses are aware of current trends in digital preservation, most of them have not obtained formal degree certification specific to digital preservation. The findings further revealed that minimal digital preservation competencies are observed in the teaching curricula. A significant number of challenges observed illustrated mainly a lack of resources and limited skills in terms of practical demonstrations by educators. The curricula mostly lacked clarity on long-term and short-term digital preservation. The study recommends that DLIS and other institutions should conduct surveys or curriculum auditing on digital preservation in order to improve the teaching content. A significant number of shortcomings regarding digital preservation that could motivate further studies are also discussed under the conclusion and recommendations section of this study.

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