As digital content and its related metadata are generated and used across different phases of the information lifecycle, and in a continually evolving digital environment, the concept of a fixed and stable ‘final’ version that needs to be preserved becomes less appropriate. As well as dealing with technological change and obsolescence, long-term sustainability requires us to address changes in context. Such a changing environment necessitates a corresponding evolution of the strategies and approaches for preservation if stakeholder communities are to be able to continue to use and interpret content appropriately in the long-term.
As change is an inevitable challenge in long-term digital preservation (LTDP), the question is how do we deal with it? In this article, the PERICLES project is proposing a compelling approach to the communities engaged in managing and preserving their digital asset.
In this article, PERICLES covers the following subjects:
- The Challenge of Change
- Digital Data and their Ecosystems
- Model-driven Solution
- Integration Framework and Testbeds
- From Testbed to Reality
PERICLES is a four-year integrated project (2013-2017) addressing the challenge of ensuring that digital content remains accessible in an environment that is subject to continual change. Funded by the European Union under its Seventh Framework Programme (ICT Call 9), PERICLES brings together a project consortium that unites academic institutions with expertise in various aspects of digital preservation and information analytics, commercial partners including SMEs and a multinational corporation, and non-academic public sector organisations with digital holdings in the creative arts, archives, and scientific data.