Developing a digital preservation policy

What is a digital preservation policy?

Digital preservation is any activity carried out to ensure long-term access to digital information.

The diversity of electronic resources and frequent changes in computer technology present a range of challenges that need to be tackled in order to ensure that these records remain accessible over the long-term.

This module provides museums with a checklist to establish the development of a digital preservation policy.

It should be noted that the checklist is not a policy template but rather a series of questions in a number of key areas of digital preservation intended to spur museums into thinking about the policy and raising issues that may have been missed.

For each question, sample statements are provided that could be used in a digital preservation policy. The samples are meant to promote discussion within the organization relating to the development of the digital preservation policy.