Content’s Abandonment Issues

Good article about curation, from Razorfish's Scatter/Gather blog.
Content’s Abandonment Issues

Erin Abler   November 9, 2010

Neglecting digital preservation can have unhappy consequences. (image via Patrick Feller)

Nothing rains on a post-launch parade more than realizing that you forgot to plan for something big. I beseech you: don’t let that thing be digital preservation. Your content includes your information resources, and your information resources make your business. So maybe you haven’t had time to think about managing the digital assets that come with your new site. Here’s why you’re not going to put it off any longer:

Records aren’t just forms you sign, copy, and file.
Depending on your business, records and assets can include things like video and audio recordings, drawings, and photos – all of which will be digital if they’re being used on your website.

Evidence, accountability, and consistency.
The holy trinity of compliance. Digital objects that serve as evidence of decisions and transactions must be handled in a consistent way, providing proof of responsible business practice. If your new site is an intranet, you have even more reason to keep this in mind.

Organizational memory.
Historically, culturally, and institutionally significant information helps differentiate your organization from competitors. Solid archival assessment, as well as a good retention and disposition schedule, will save you the risk of losing what sets your organization apart.

Media deterioration.
Archiving a digital object doesn’t make it last forever. To ensure future accessibility, the physical integrity of the bit stream needs to be protected over the course of repeated use and migration.

Hardware and software obsolescence.
Still using video tapes to record your favorite shows? Floppy disks to save documents? Of course not, and that’s why hardware evolution needs to be something you anticipate. Meanwhile, the relative security of proprietary software (in comparison with open source) has a trade-off, which is the degree of difficulty in keeping up with new versions of applications and formats. Work with your IT and records management personnel to determine how your site’s digital assets may need to be supported in the future.

As the dynamics of the web continue to shift, it remains vitally important to produce fresh content and pursue the best of what’s trending. Alongside this work, though, digital preservation demands a clear vision for ongoing content strategy. If you create good content, and if you intend either to keep it or to build upon it, then you’ll need to ensure its durability over time. Content is an investment – a big one. The last thing you can afford to do is assume it will take care of itself.