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RLG-DLF Task Force on Policy & Practice for Long-term Retention of Digital Materials

As part of our continuing program to address the preservation needs of the research community, in spring 1999 RLG partnered with the Digital Library Federation to identify the current state of the art in best practice for long-term retention of digital research resources.

The joint task force builds on a strong base of RLG-sponsored work to remove obstacles to long-term retention of digital material. In 1994, RLG cosponsored with the Commission on Preservation and Access the Task Force on the Archiving of Digital Information. Preserving Digital Information, the 1996 task force report co-edited by Don Waters and John Garrett, recommended work needed to address problems inherent in the preservation of digital materials.

Institutions around the world have taken up several of these recommendations; RLG's PRESERV members identified those most closely matching RLG's mission, in the January 1998 report of the RLG Working Group on Digital Archiving.

One of the PRESERV working group's recommendations led to the 1998 survey of RLG's members to take the pulse of digital archiving activity and problems. Conducted by Margaret Hedstrom and Sheon Montgomery of the University of Michigan's School of Information, this study, Digital Preservation Needs and Requirements in RLG Member Institutions, revealed the glaring lack of digital archiving policy statements, let alone documentation of existing practice, in institutions mandated to preserve digital resources they acquire or create. The RLG-DLF Task Force addresses this need.

Charge to the RLG-DLF Task Force

The task force will gather and analyze existing digital preservation policies and practice descriptions for the following classes of electronic materials: It will create one or more digital preservation policy frameworks that adequately address the material types and relevant institutional contexts. It will make the policy framework(s) widely available in the RLG Web site, with links to statements of best available practice. It will recommend further collaborative action to continue development of the policy and practice Web site as new practices evolve.

Task Force Subgroups

To pursue the three classes of material simultaneously, the task force has been subdivided into three subgroups.

The task force composition, by subgroup, is as follows:

Institutional Records:

Emory University — Janice Mohlhenrich
Indiana University — Phil Bantin
National Archives and Records Administration — Lisa Weber
Electronic Publications:
California Digital Library — Beverlee French
Carnegie Mellon University — Michael Shamos
Stanford University — Walter Henry
Locally Digitized Materials:
Columbia University — Janet Gertz
Cornell University — Oya Rieger
Library of Congress —Caroline Arms
American Museum of Natural History — Tony Troncale
University of California at Berkeley — Barclay Ogden
University of Michigan — Maria Bonn
University of Pennsylvania — John Ockerbloom
University of Texas at Austin —Mark McFarland

For information about this project, contact Robin Dale.

Last updated 20 February 2001

This site was frozen in 2004 and is now out of date. Please go to RLG's current Web site for all information. Questions? Contact us.

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