Preserving a computer-based artwork can follow a process similar to that used for a traditional artwork, but there are also challenges specific to digital media. Documentation is especially critical, for example, and storage issues are much more complicated. One other point to remember: experts in the field will tell you that the factor most commonly responsible for the failure of digital files is human error. The failure to anticipate future problems, to label files properly, to record necessary information-these are potentially far more damaging than obsolescence or deterioration. Hopefully this planning guide will help you avoid such problems for your collection.
For more information, see the Best Practices section of this website.
Documentation is the process of gathering and organizing information about a work, including its condition, contents, and the actions taken to preserve it.
The first category of information to record is behavior-for example, the way a work is used, how viewers interact with it, and how certain actions cause other actions.
Another critical area of documentation is metadata, or data about data. Metadata is particularly important for computer-based art in that the components of these works are almost never readable by humans and rarely have useful physical labeling. In other words, unlike a film, whose conditions are usually apparent, visual inspection is generally meaningless for the files themselves. And unlike tapes, which often have some useful information on the label, digital files can be easily and quickly transferred from medium to medium, potentially losing any identifying labels.
Metadata can be divided into four general categories: descriptive (describing the content of the work); technical (describing the technical creation of the file and requirements for playing the file); preservation; and administrative (which includes how the work was acquired and rights information).
Inspection is the process of gathering detailed information about a file in preparation for migration to new formats, as well as to check the status of works already preserved, or yet to be preserved. Inspection of digital works has a visual aspect, to be certain-checking a DVD for scratches, for example-but also involves testing the functionality of the work.
Ideally, regular inspections are performed as often as every six months in order to make certain that digital files and the systems and equipment needed to run them are in full operation.
The storage of a computer-based artwork involves the same processes and techniques as any other digital information-and the Best Practices in this field change as rapidly as any other area of computing. In this area, however, rapid changes have a silver lining: as technology advances, the cost of storage decreases. In descending order of cost and desirability, the primary storage options are:
Independent Hard Disks (e.g., RAID-6)
External Hard Drives (High-density disks)
DVD-R or CD-R (archival quality/"gold" discs)
Remember that redundancy-multiple copies in multiple locations-is a critical part of long-term data storage.
The nature of computer-based art means that its preservation requires constant vigilance-and the careful selection of a strategy to ensure the work's long-term viability. There are three primary strategies utilized in digital preservation.
Migration (reformatting and refreshing) is a solution to media obsolescence or deterioration. There are several levels of migration. Maintaining the original integrity and functionality of the work, you can transfer hardware and software to a new operating system or you can transfer an obsolete file format to a new format.
Emulation involves the re-creation of the technical environment required to view an object. This is achieved by maintaining information about the hardware and software requirements so that the system can be reengineered to emulate the original environment in the future.
Encapsulation groups a digital object with all components that are necessary to provide access to that object.
Quality control is necessary for any form of digital preservation in which duplication, migration, or other reformatting is involved. As with inspection, quality control involves thorough testing of a new version of the work. Test the behaviors and functionality of a work against the original. If the original is no longer accessible, test against documentation of the original.
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