Presentation delivered by Ricc Ferrante, Smithsonian Institution Archives' Information Technology Archivist & Electronic Records Program Director, at the Smithsonian Archives Fair on October 22, 2010 in Washington, DC. The basic principles of digital archives and preservation applicable to both personal collections and organizational ones.

1. Put Away…And Not Forgotten Riccardo Ferrante Smithsonian Institution Archives Smithsonian Institution Archives FairOctober, 2010

3. SI Archives is …. The institutional memory of a unique American cultural resource and a steward of the national collections. SIA was established to ensure institutional accountability and enhance public appreciation of a great national treasure and the activities of the people associated with it. [Neg.# 7004/b44f10/85-11427_0] [Neg.# SIA2009-0709] Paleontologist Secretary Charles D. Walcott Ornithologist Roxie Collie S. Laybourne Serves scholars, the Smithsonian community, and the general public, offering a range of reference, research, and records services.

5. 2001 – Preservation of digital records began

6. 2003 – websites, preservation tools and techniques

7. 2008 – email, preservation tools and techniques

8. Worked to establish standards and best practices

9. Digital archives includes over 30 Terabytes

10. Documents

11. Photographs and images

12. Video and Audio

13. Databases

14. Websites

15. Email

16. Computer-aided designs

18. Obsolescence A digital object becomes obsolete when it can no longer be maintained and rendered in an authentic and reliable manner, with integrity and completeness. Risk factors Physical storage media Individual file formats Applications, operating systems, hardware technology Necessary skill sets for continued access Financial sustainability Too many varieties, precluding the ability to procure and sustain preservation environments Digital Fragility

19. Organize Reduce or eliminate risk factors Preserve Use Effective Preservation Strategies

22. Virus scans and format verification

23. Backups

24. Long-lived file format types

25. Reliable storage media

26. Documentation

29. Organize Reduce or eliminate risk factors Preserve Reliable storage media Paper? Optical disks Internal or external hard drives Flash drives Or a combination? Documentation Keep records of what you have done with which objects Essential for remembering what it is and choosing the next preservation step Effective Preservation Strategies

30. Organize Reduce or eliminate risk factors Preserve Use Copies – not masters Other file formats acceptable Effective Preservation Strategies

31. Personal Collections Organize Reduce or eliminate risk factors Preserve Use Organizational Archives Effective Preservation Strategies

33. Some accessions contain only digital records

34. Digitization