Library Preservation

Library Preservation

Digital preservation at its most basic definition is a series of activities aimed towards ensuring access to digital materials over time.^[9] Digitization is a means of creating digital surrogates of analog materials such as books, newspapers, microfilm, and videotapes. Digitization can provide a means of preserving the content of the materials by creating an accessible facsimile of the object in order to put less strain on already fragile originals.

The prevalent Brittle Books^[10] issue facing libraries across the world is looking towards a digital solution in long term preservation.^[11] For centuries, books were printed on wood-pulp paper, which turns acidic over the period of its decay. As the paper ages, it deteriorates to a point of being completely unusable. In theory, if these widely circulated titles are not treated with de-acidification processes, the materials upon those acid pages will be lost forever. As technology evolves, it is increasingly becoming a preferred method of preserving these materials - mainly because it can provide easier access points and significantly reduced amounts of physical storage space.

Google, Inc. has taken steps towards attempting to digitize every title with "Google Book Search"^[12][13]. While some academic libraries are in contract with the service, issues of copyright law violations threaten to derail the project.^[14] However, it does provide - at the very least - an online consortium for libraries to exchange information and for researchers to search for titles as well as review the materials.