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Move to preserve digital heritage

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI NOV. 15. The digital revolution will now be `heritage' according to UNESCO. In an attempt to keep today's technology alive for tomorrow, member-countries have promised to protect digital material including web pages, texts, databases, still and moving images, audio, graphics and even software. With the expansion of the technology, new formats will also be protected.

The Charter on the Preservation of Digital Heritage encompasses a wide variety of human expression under the umbrella. Besides, cultural resources, educational, scientific and administrative resources, the Charter brings technical, legal, medical and other kinds of information created digitally or converted into digital form from existing analogue resources into its ambit too. "Born digital'' formats should be given priority. As most of these resources are "ephemeral'' and require management and maintenance to retain them, it is important to guard them. Threatened by the very nature of technology that rapidly changes and "new" software and hardware becoming obsolete almost immediately, these resources are being lost. Lack of supportive legislation as well as it being too expensive for governments and institutions to develop policies to protect them, this heritage is being outdated even before its potential is fully grasped.

Stressing the need for action, this Charter encourages member States to address the prevailing threats to the loss of digital heritage. Article 4 of the Charter also suggests legal, economic and technological measures to safeguard this heritage. Member States have been urged to raise the level of awareness about the potential of this heritage as well as practicalities of preservation.

While UNESCO feels it essential to preserve the digital heritage it is equally important to make it accessible to all.

The Charter seeks to keep digital heritage "free from unreasonable restrictions". Outlining the role of governments, the Charter urges software and hardware developers to come together with national libraries, archives, museums and other public heritage organisations in preserving the digital heritage. Governments should also develop training and research to devise new ways to safeguard the digital format.

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