Language(s) of presentations:
Abstract:
In the last decades a lot of discussion was going on which digital preservation strategy to apply. For a long time migration was the only viable preservation approach for most cultural heritage institutions. Since a few years the digital preservation community is recognizing the need of applying both emulation as well as migration in their strategies. Despite these developments emulation is still looked upon with skepticism due to its technical complexity and initial costs. As early as in 2004, the Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands and the National Library of the Netherlands acknowledged the need for emulation, especially for rendering complex digital objects in the future without affecting their authenticity and integrity. For these reasons, a project was started to investigate the feasibility of emulation by developing and thoroughly testing an emulator designed for digital preservation purposes. In July 2007 this project has ended and delivered a durable x86 modular (component based) computer emulator: Dioscuri.
Target audience:
Archivists and preservation officers
Overall purpose and significance of session:
To demonstrate that emulation is a viable preservation approach. As Dioscuri is open source and supporting a dedicated emulation development platform, any interested individual or organisation can use Dioscuri for their personal needs or integrate it in their business process. Moreover, it stimulates joint development to take Dioscuri to the next level.
Content description:
With the ongoing paradigm shift from traditional, paper documents moving towards digital representation, the term preservation acquires a new dimension. Each day, new inventions and technologies introduce new capabilities in the digital world, quickly superseding their old and obsolete versions. Long-term preservation of digital objects not only entails secure storage and management, but also includes the development and execution of strategies to access and render these objects, now and in the future. For a long time emulation was looked upon with skepticism due to its technical complexity. The joint project of Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands and KB has shown that it is feasible. The current version of our modular emulator, Dioscuri, already shows its value by executing old applications more accurately than is done by a modern computer platform. Dioscuri is durable as it is portable to a great variety of computer platforms. Due to its modular design, Dioscuri can be configured into any target platform.
I wish to extend a warm invitation to all archivists and information professionals to the 16th ICA Congress in Kuala Lumpur from 21- 27 July 2008.