This document discusses approaches for preserving digitized taxonomic data like prints, manuscripts, and specimens. It covers why digital preservation is important, considerations for collaboration, recommended file formats like JPEG2000 and PDF/A, the importance of metadata standards, and the need for a diverse approach rather than a monolithic solution for long-term digital preservation.

1. Approaches to preserving digitized taxonomic data: Prints, manuscripts & specimens Chris Freeland Director, Center for Biodiversity Informatics Technical Director, Biodiversity Heritage Library 28 October 2011 @chrisfreeland

2. Prints / Manuscripts / Specimens Different objects, similar management http://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/6257859557 http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisfreeland/6018724034 http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/34045915

3. Overview of Talk Why worry about digital preservation? Considerations for preservation Collaboration File formats Metadata standards Views to the future Preservation Panic!

4. WHY WORRY? http://www.flickr.com/photos/biodivlibrary/6008902662

5. Do it once, do it right Costs more to get object to scanner than to scan

6. Conversion / Compost / Corruption Longevity of digital objects File changes Media obsolescence Cautionary Tales

7. CONSIDERATION: COLLABORATION

8. LOCKSS L ots O f C opies K eeps S tuff S afe LOCKSS is both a software platform & a concept Software: http://www.lockss.org

9. Rule of 3 Museum X Library Y Archive Z 1. Geographic Locations 2. Administrations 3. Technology Platforms

10. CONSIDERATION: FILE FORMATS

11. JPEG2000 Wavelet compression, lossless encoding 12 Parts Of particular interest to documents & specimens: Part 1: Core Coding System, ISO/IEC 15444-1 Part 6: Compound image file format Part 10: JP3D, Volumetric images http://www.jpeg.org/jpeg2000/

12. http://www.tropicos.org/ImageFullView.aspx?imageid=62182

13. JPEG2000 (Hurrahs & Hisses) Advantages Store a single file for access & preservation Standards-based Saves drive space (important at museum scale) Disadvantages Doesn’t have wide native support in many apps Requires an intermediary app to decode & serve But, there’s an open source option: djatoka http://djatoka.sourceforge.net Reports of data loss

14. PDF/A ISO-standardized version of PDF suitable for long-term preservation Identifies a "profile" for electronic documents that ensures the documents can be reproduced exactly the same way in years to come.* Makes the file self-contained (and therefore larger) Embeds fonts Graphics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDF/A

15. CONSIDERATION: METADATA

16. The Great Thing About STANDARDS Is That There Are SO MANY To Choose From

17. Metadata Preservation Descriptive information (metadata) provides content & context for indexing, reuse Can bundle metadata within files EXIF: images, common in digital cameras Adobe XMP: docs, images Should commit metadata to file system Should not manage just in DB or other management system Filesystem <DwC> XML JP2

18. THE FUTURE

19. Electronic Publications Happening now, has been for years Should take same care in ensuring heterogeneity & diversity in digital management systems as with printed, bound books Monolithic libraries have failed over time Monolithic electronic archives will, too

20. http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/22681143 Need a meadow…

21. … not a monoculture.

22. There is no silver bullet Make best decision today Stay up with technology changes & best practices <insert library & archive professionals here> Evaluate, experiment, document, lead Move to stable new technologies when necessary

23. Questions? Chris Freeland Director, Center for Biodiversity Informatics Technical Director, Biodiversity Heritage Library 28 October 2011 Email: [email_address] Twitter: @chrisfreeland