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Archive: April 2014 (20 Posts)

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The Why and What of Web Archives

Posted by: Abbey Potter

For someone who thinks about web archiving almost every day it’s sometimes hard to explain to people outside the digital library community why archiving web sites is worth doing. “They archive themselves,” some say. “Why would you want to save what’s on the Internet?” they wonder. Instead of launching into explanations about cultural heritage, dynamic …

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Looking Back on a Defining Experience: The Residency Class of 2014

Posted by: Susan Manus

The following is a guest post by Margo Padilla, Program Manager for NDSR-NY. With a month remaining in the inaugural term of the National Digital Stewardship Residency program, the cohort is busy putting the finishing touches on projects, participating in closing program events and planning future endeavors. Since arriving in Washington DC last September, residents …

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A Report On the Personal Digital Archiving 2014 Conference

Posted by: Mike Ashenfelder

Cinda May, a key organizer of the Personal Digital Archiving 2014 conference, is one of a growing number of information professionals helping to digitally preserve personal and community history. May, chair of Special Collections at Indiana State University Library, is a co-creator of the Wabash Valley Visions & Voices Digital Memory Project and, as such, she …

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The Meaning of the MP3 Format: An Interview with Jonathan Sterne

Posted by: Trevor Owens

What does the history of the MP3 format mean for those interested in ensuring long-term access to our digital cultural heritage? In this installment of the NDSA’s Insights interview series I talk with historian Jonathan Sterne about his book MP3: The Meaning of a Format. You can read the introduction to his book, titled “Format …

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NDSR Symposium: Pushing the Digital Envelope

Posted by: Butch Lazorchak

The following is a guest post by Kris Nelson, Program Management Specialist at the Library of Congress and Program Coordinator of the National Digital Stewardship Residency. “If you want to do important work, you have to work on an important problem.”  With these words, Betsy Humphreys, Deputy Director of the National Library of Medicine, effectively …

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A Very Special Episode about Digital Preservation

Posted by: Leslie Johnston

In getting ready to make a transition from digital preservation and repository development at the Library of Congress to digital preservation at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), I was asked if I would write a post about what I’ve been doing and what I will be doing at NARA. Don’t mind if …

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Protect Your Data: Information Security and the Boundaries of your Storage System

Posted by: Trevor Owens

The following is a guest post from Jane Mandelbaum, co-chair of the National Digital Stewardship Alliance Innovation Working group and IT Project Manager at the Library of Congress. The NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation are useful in providing a high-level, at-a-glance overview of tiered guidance for planning for digital preservation. One of the most common requests received …

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Teaching and Learning About Digital Stewardship

Posted by: Abbey Potter

Gaining the knowledge, skills and experience required to manage digital assets and provide access to them over time can sometimes feel like trying to hit a moving target. Almost all heritage organizations now have a responsibility to steward some kind of digital content be it e-books or journals, digitized materials, electronic records, digital photographs, data …