UC Libraries Digital Preservation Program
Preserving UC's Research, Teaching, and Learning
In partnership with the University of California libraries, the California Digital Library established the digital preservation program in 2002. The program ensures long-term access to digital information that supports and results from research, teaching, and learning at UC.
See sections below:
Projects
- UC Libraries Digital Preservation Repository: Supports the long-term retention of digital objects for the benefit of the UC libraries and their users.
- The web at risk: A distributed approach to preserving our political cultural heritage. Funded by a Library of Congress grant, this project will develop web archiving tools that will be used by libraries to capture, curate, and preserve collections of web-based government and political information.
- California recall election project: A collection of web sites from the historic 2003 California gubernatorial recall election.
- The BagIt File Package Format: A hierarchical file package format suitable for the exchange of generalized archival content via the network or hard-disk. The "bag" has just enough structure to safely enclose its payload but does not require deep knowledge about its internal semantics. Also available as an Internet-Draft at BagIt.txt.
Partners
The CDL's preservation partners include the UC campus libraries, and digital library and preservation researchers around the world. Grant funding has been received from the Library of Congress National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Reports
- UC libraries digital preservation program: Report on aims, overview, and initial priorities. Spring 2004 [DOC]
- Web-based government information: Evaluating solutions for capture, curation, and preservation. [PDF]
- Preserving digital materials: Final report for the IMLS about creating a preservation repository for multi-institution use. [PDF]
- Systemwide strategic directions for libraries and scholarly information: The UC libraries' strategic plan. June 2004 [PDF]
- Digital preservation flier: Spring 2004 [PDF]
Initial Priorities
The initial priorities of the digital preservation program are:
- Develop a robust and reliable digital preservation repository that can be replicated and extended for use by the campuses.
- Design and develop tools, guidelines, and best practices to support independent campus preservation efforts, including web harvesting.
The infrastructure will be used in two distinct ways:
- By the CDL, on behalf of the UC libraries, to capture and persistently manage digital information in which the UC libraries have a common interest.
- By campus libraries, acting individually or in groups, to capture and persistently manage digital materials in which they have a local interest.
Current efforts are focusing on materials determined to be at risk, including:
- The published record (journal articles, monographs, technical reports, conference papers).
- Web-based content (commonly without print analog).
- "Born digital" materials (datasets, working papers, and other primary materials produced in the course of research, as well as content in which the digital format offers additional functionality).
- Digital copies of items held by UC libraries.
- Online teaching and learning materials.