Digital Preservation Management

Last week I was in Austin for a two-day workshop on Digital Preservation Management.

I know what you're thinking ... "But aren't you really concerned with preserving 3D objects?" The short answer is yes and no. Yes, my role here at The Petroleum Museum mostly deals with the 3D objects in the Permanent Collection, as well as the 2D objects (documents, manuscripts, photographs) in the Archives and the books and periodicals in the Library.

However, with this Train to Share grant project well underway, I am increasingly concerned with the digital files created from scanning our photographs. How does an organization deal with all these digital "objects" and their relevant information? The Digital Preservation Management (DPM) workshop attempted to answer that question among others.

The biggest take-away for me from the workshop is the image of the three-legged stool. Digital Preservation relies on three elements equally: technology, organization, and resources; it cannot stand on a single leg.
If any leg is underdeveloped, or overdeveloped, and the stool is whobbly, digital preservation will not last for the long-term. DPM is something one has to carefully plan and invest in.

While The Petroleum Museum is not quite ready for long-term digital preservation, we are on our way, especially thanks to the Train to Share project. The worksthop provided tools so that our institution could invest fully in digital preservation in the future.