mar09c.indd


Jane Hedberg P r e s e r v a t i o n  N e w s  

Sustainable digital preservation 
The Blue Ribbon Task Force on Sustainable 
Digital Preservation and Access has published 
an interim report, “Sustaining the Digital Invest­
ment: Issues and Challenges of Economically 
Sustainable Digital Preservation.” The task force 
brings together 17 experts from economics, 
computer science, and cultural heritage organi­
zations. Its work is supported by the National 
Science Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon 
Foundation, the Library of Congress, the Na­
tional Archives and Records Administration, the 
Council on Library and Information Resources, 
and the U.K. Joint Information Systems Com­
mittee. The 78­page interim report reviews best 
current practices for funding preservation of 
digital public information and records, and it 
identifies new trends and systemic challenges. 
The first chapter is an “Introduction” to the 
economics of digital preservation, the second 
is “Economic Models and Their Properties,” the 
third is “Prior Experience and Preliminary Les­
sons Learned,” and the fourth is “Understanding 
Economic Sustainability: Observations, Gaps 
and Opportunities.” 

The interim report is available free­of­
charge at brtf.sdsc.edu/biblio/BRTF_Interim 
_Report.pdf. 

Sustainable environments 
The Getty Conservation Institute (GCI) has 
mounted the proceedings from its conference, 
Expert’s Roundtable on Sustainable Climate 
Management Strategies, held in Tenerife, Spain, 
in 2007. GCI invited 15 international experts in 
preservation, cultural heritage management, and 
environmental control to exchange knowledge 
and experiences, identify areas in need of further 
research, and consider education and training 
opportunities. The conference proceedings 
consist of 12 papers, an edited transcript, and a 
15­page bibliography. 

Jane Hedberg is preservation program offi  cer at Harvard 
University Library, e-mail: jane_hedberg@harvard.edu; 
fax: (617) 496-8344 

The proceedings are available free­of­
charge at www.getty.edu/conservation 
/science/climate/climate_experts_roundtable. 
html 

MetaArchive 
The MetaArchive Cooperative is an interna­
tional organization of cultural heritage institu­
tions concerned about long­term preservation 
of their digital assets. It formed in 2004 to 
collaboratively build low­cost trusted digital 
repositories. Using the open source LOCKSS 
software, the institutions submit digital collec­
tions to a geographically distributed network 
of secure servers, where files are checked and 
repaired as necessary. Members of the coop­
erative include Emory University, Auburn Uni­
versity, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, University 
of Louisville, Florida State University, Boston 
College, Rice University, and the University of 
Hull in the United Kingdom. 

For more information about MetaArchive, 
go to www.metaarchive.org. 

LC TOPS 
The Preservation Directorate of the Library of 
Congress (LC) has presented more than 35 
lectures in the Washington D.C.­based “Topics 
in Preservation Science.” In 2009, LC changed 
the name of the series to “Topics in Preserva­
tion Series” (TOPS) and expanded it to cover 
more general preservation issues, including 
conservation, preventive care, emergency 
preparedness, and digital preservation. LC 
will also offer remote participation through 
live Webcasts and wider dissemination of the 
content by mounting audio recordings and 
slides from selected presentations on its Web 
site. The next scheduled lecture will be “The 
Art of the Steal (Identification of Forgeries)” by 
Frank Abagnale on March 19, 2009. 

For more information about the series, go 
to www.loc.gov/preserv/tops/schedule.html. 
To request participation in a live Webcast, send 
an e­mail to anha@loc.gov at least three days 
before the lecture. 

186C&RL News March 2009

mailto:anha@loc.gov
www.loc.gov/preserv/tops/schedule.html
http:www.metaarchive.org
www.getty.edu/conservation
mailto:jane_hedberg@harvard.edu