Ephemerality

The study of human cultures and creativity is founded on access to the records of the past. Preserving and ensuring the authenticity of the artifacts and records of the past is one of the most valued functions of libraries, archives, and museums—and yet we have only begun to learn how to do these things with the political, economic, social, and cultural record of our increasingly digital civilization. 1Digital data are notoriously fragile, short-lived, and easy to manipulate without leaving obvious evidence of fraud. Therefore, such content is best preserved in trustworthy repositories, without which there will be critical breaks in the chain of evidence. Although sites such as YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, and MySpace 2have become popular for hosting digital collections, they are not repositories that ensure long-term access to the content. The rapid turnover in digital hardware and software often leaves digital data marooned on media or in formats that can no longer be accessed and that are highly susceptible to deterioration and loss. Preservation requires the scrupulous management of data from the moment it enters a repository through the steps of validation, storage, migration, and delivery to parties that have been authenticated and authorized to receive it. These are complex technical procedures dependent on standards and protocols that work quickly and reliably. Preservation was once an obscure backroom operation of interest chiefly to conservators and archivists: it is now widely recognized as one of the most important elements of a functional and enduring cyberinfrastructure.