When Data Disappears

When Data Disappears
By KARI KRAUS
Published: August 6, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/opinion/sunday/when-data-disappears.html

A good friend, Joanne, forwarded this article to me this morning.
Interesting article, but a bit cliche.

Digital preservation is not about preserving media themselves, but about preserving bits and bites, which requires real fresh eyes and idea of of digital preservation.

"With data, intervention needs to happen earlier, ideally at an object’s creation. And tough decisions need to be made, early on, regarding what needs to be saved. We must replace digital preservation with digital curation.": This is the interventionists' perspective, far goes back to David Bearman in 1990's.

"Instead, we must look for ways to continuously maintain and improve it. In other words, we must stop preserving digital material and start curating it.": I think that we need to re-define "preservation" in a digital environment, rather than "stop". So we can make sure the philosophy, symbolic meanings, and history of cultural heritage preservation continue and also evolve.

"No wonder preservationists often wax ominous about the “digital dark ages.”": Still we do?