In our increasing digital world, galleries, libraries, archives, and museums are grappling with a range of issues related to preservation of various forms of media -- includiing media that is no longer used (or able to be used).
In the Fall 2019 semester, students in the Cultural Heritage Resources course in the School of Information Studies took part in a digital preservation project.
Throughout the semester we discussed a variety of issues related to cultural and natural heritage resources and institutions with a central focus on issues related to preservation in a digital era. Through their term project, students had the opportunity to reflect critically on the issues discussed in the readings through practical experience in researching and writing a preservation guide and then undertaking the preservation/conservation process with a old media formats that are now or becoming obsolete.
We worked closely with Marina Bokovay from the Library’s Archives and Special Collections to research and write digital preservation guides and then had the opportunity to follow the workflow that they designed with archival materials from fonds at ARCS. Students were able to evaluate their own workflow, make modifications to their guides and learn more about the process through actually using the tools in class.
They then blogged about their experiences, sharing what they learned throughout the process. Visit their blogs and learn more about their experiences!
Digital Preservation Projects
- ARCS: Digitization and Preservation of 3.5-inch Floppy Disks by Caralie Heinrichs and Emilie Vandal
- ARCS: Digitization and Preservation of VHS Tapes by Amanda Lipson and Vanessa Pressault
- ARCS: Digitization and Preservation of DVD-Rs by Emilie Michaud (not yet published)
Research team
- Dr. Jada Watson, adjunct professor of the Faculty of Arts
- Marina Bokovay, Head of Archives and Special Collections
