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Normalising migration: Reacting to the failure of a digital preservation platform
Journal of Digital Media Management,
9
(1),
30-39
(2020)
Abstract
Since 2006, the University of Florida participated in the Florida Digital Archive (FDA), the mission of which was to provide a cost-effective, long-term preservation repository for digital materials in support of teaching, learning, scholarship and research in the state of Florida. Managed by the Florida Academic Library Services Cooperative (FALSC), FDA used the Dark Archive in the Sunshine State (DAITSS) repository software. Developed with Institute of Museum and Library Services grant funding, the DAITSS system was designed to implement active preservation strategies based on format transformations including forward migration, normalisation and localisation. During autumn 2018, FALSC announced that the sunsetting of FDA would take place in June 2019. This paper discusses how the University of Florida Libraries, with its large digital collection, responded when its statewide digital preservation system was shut down and it had only months to transition. It will discuss challenges in managing the technology infrastructure response while adhering to digital preservation best practices.
Keywords: digital preservation; digital archive; migration; exit strategy
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Todd Digby is the Chair of Library Technology Services at the University of Florida, where he leads a service-oriented department that researches, develops, optimises and supports advanced library information systems and technology for the University of Florida Libraries. Prior to joining the University of Florida, Todd held administrative and faculty positions at the Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system, the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the University of South Dakota.
Fletcher Durant is the Head of Conservation and Preservation at the University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries. His work focuses on the preventive conservation of library and archival materials, the sustainability of cultural heritage, and risk management. He is a trained book and paper conservator and a Professional Associate of the American Institute for Conservation. Prior to joining the University of Florida, he was the Preservation Archivist for NYU Libraries and Assistant Conservator for Special Collection at the New York Public Library. He received his MSIS and CAS in the conservation of library and archival materials from the University of Texas.
