Preservation of Electronic Media in Libraries, Museums, and Archives

No answering machines. And no call waiting. No Caller I.D. No compact disk recorders or laser disks or holography or cable television or MTV. No multiplex cinemas or word processors or laser printers or modems. No virtual reality.

Rick Moody, The Ice Storm

The nine muses who inspired and presided over the arts and sciences in Greek mythology were worshipped in a temple called the mouseion, known today as the museum. In 290 BC, Ptolemy I, in an effort to collect diverse global literature in a single place, established the first known museum in Alexandria. This museum consisted of a library, collections of artifacts relating to the nine muses, and facilities for research and teaching.¹ Many disciplines have risen out of Ptolemy's museum, but three have continued to be the collecting entities that were originally conceived in Alexandria. The library, museum, and archive all share Ptolemy's vision of the preservation of cultural heritage collections.

The information science profession involves the investigation and design of preservation methodologies for the benefit of institutions that take on the commitment of saving the evidence of our culture, whether they are libraries, museums, or archives. Paul Otlet (1868-1944), one of the earliest pioneers in information science, understood this responsibility and worked to promote collaboration among all three types of institutions. Otlet argued that libraries, archives, and museums are all "manifestations of a single, central social need."² Since this time, groups such as Institute of Museum and Library Services, Stanford University Library's Conservation Online, Getty Research Institute, and Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) and Research Libraries Group's (RLG) working group PREMIS (PREservation Metadata: Implementation Strategies) have formed to support and pool resources for libraries, archives, and museums.

While preservation standards for some nonelectronic mediums have been established based on research and shared information between groups of professionals, the preservation of electronic media now being collected by cultural heritage institutions has only begun to be addressed. The development of standards for electronic media must involve a collaboration among libraries, archives, and museums so that the unique concerns of each type of institution are represented.

In the spring of 2003, as part of a master's in library science thesis project at Queens College in New York, a study was undertaken to determine what types of electronic media are being housed in academic libraries, museums, and archives in North America and the methods of preservation that each of these institutions are using to ensure the longevity of this media. The study assessed the values placed on electronic media preservation and determined what types of guidelines are being created to guarantee the permanence of these materials. While this study is a general overview of the holdings of various types of libraries, museums, and archives, it emphasizes a need for more up-to-date preservation practices across the cultural heritage community.

Archives, academic libraries, and museums generally operate independently of one another and have their own special focus in collection development, yet because of a similarity in collection material formats, a likeness in preservation concerns and a need for collaboration has arisen. While focused studies have been done on the subject of electronic preservation, there has never been a general survey of the preservation practices and holdings of libraries, museums, and archives that asked questions relating to specific collection holdings and preservation strategies. This study emphasizes the commonalities of these institutions pertaining to electronic media and their need to develop a coordinated preservation strategy.

Electronic Media and Preservation Practice

Defining how and why the term "electronic media" is used in this study is pertinent to the evaluation of how this type of medium should be preserved. Electronic media are any original or converted digital or analog information. Included in the analog side of this definition are magnetic tapes, laser discs, films, and phonographic records. While films and phonographic records could arguably fall outside of the definition of electronic media, they are both media that are reliant on system preservation to be viewed/heard properly; the media are increasingly being migrated to...