Digital Long-term Preservation in Archives, Museums and Records Management

Long-term preservation is one of the central challenges we face in digital democracies. The course provides knowledge about challenges with long-term preservation and dissemination accessing of digital artifacts or materials, and covers the following main themes: Basic theory for digital long-term preservation, professional and legal framework and strategies for long-term preservation, and also challenges for the work with preservation of varied digital societal documentation, for example related to sustainability or information loss. What are the significant properties of digital artifacts and materials today and in the future?

The course content has transfer value for work with digital societal documentation in a varied working life, for example in archives and museums, in research institutions and in processes of records management in various businesses.

Knowledge

The student has:

• knowledge about and understanding for the fundamental properties of digital archives and digitized collections,
• basic knowledge about digital or e-signatures (digital authentication mechanisms) and encryption
• knowledge about the different strategies for long-term digital preservation, and has knowledge about work processes related to conversion and integration between different file formats

Skills

The student can:

• discuss Norwegian and international standards on electronic archives, and can discuss issues related to digital or e-signatures and encryption
• explain different strategic choices related to methods for long-term preservation of digital archives
• discuss safety and security issues related to the protection of materials in digital repositories
• explain issues about long-term preservation of data related to storage format (data representation) as well as conditions related to changes in technical conditions that affect long-term preservation over time

General Competence

The student can:

• utilize knowledge and skills, and thereby design routines or instructions related to archives management
• can participate and contribute in establishing best-practices for the management of collections in archives and museums
• can express himself professionally, both orally and in writing

A combination of lectures, seminars and assignment related seminars.