Digital Preservation Practices

University of Alberta Library (UAL) is committed to maintaining the integrity, authenticity and usability of the digital objects we preserve to ensure long-term access. The following practices support our digital preservation program:

1
Digital objects entrusted to UAL for preservation are maintained for long-term access (typically 10 years or more), with respect to their enduring value and their intellectual property, privacy, and associated rights. Preserved items are not deleted unless indicated by the Take-Down and/or Content Withdrawal policies.
2
The integrity of digital objects is maintained through:
  • Fixity information captured and retained with the object at deposit
  • Regular automated fixity checks that verify the integrity of digital objects against their ingested versions.
3
To ensure the authenticity of digital objects as well as their long-term discoverability and usability, we strive to retain the necessary preservation metadata which includes:
  • Descriptive metadata about the object.
  • Metadata that captures the history of a digital object from the time it enters our system and any changes made to the object over its lifecycle.
  • Technical metadata about the object.
  • Structural metadata that enables proper display and rendering of the object.
  • Rights metadata that ensures appropriate access and use.
  • We also ensure that persistent identifiers are created for each object, and that the metadata is captured in appropriate preservation-friendly formats.
4
To support the continued usability of digital objects, we:
  • Encourage submission in a recommended file format
  • Retain characterization information at deposit
  • Migrate digital objects to new file formats where necessary, and retain the original bitstream in addition to any upgraded formats
  • Advise that in the case of some unusual file formats, it may not be possible to guarantee their usability in the future
5
Securely maintain a registry of preserved content which can help to
  • Detect accidental or incidental deletions
  • Provide information about preserved content at any point in time
6
To mitigate storage media degradation and to protect against accidental or incidental data loss, we use content replication strategies and regular storage media refreshment.
7
At a minimum, the bitstream is preserved. Further efforts to preserve as much functionality of the original as possible are made as resources permit.
8
UAL will regularly review succession plans for alternative access and stewardship in the unlikely event that the preservation program becomes no longer viable or operational.

These principles and related documents will be reviewed every 3 years to ensure preservation strategies remain current as community best practices and the needs of our users evolve. These practices are informed by the UAL Digital Preservation Framework.

Additional Digital Preservation Resources