Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

“What is digital preservation?” “Why should I worry? Storage options are cheap and everywhere!”

This is the spirit of the responses digital preservationists typically hear if not the actual words. Following a year of interviews and investigations, I can attest that our community shares these beliefs. Personal and institutional practices of collecting digital objects often indicate that people are unaware of the fragility of digital media and unconcerned about longevity of access.

IWU is one of five participating institutions researching digital preservation options for small- to medium-sized college and university libraries. Our involvement as part of a two-year National Leadership …