The book examines the problem of storing, reading and using digital documents for periods longer than 50 years. It starts with a detailed preface that outlines and summarises the contents of the book clearly. The preface also explains the scope and the aims of the book. The preface is followed by a detailed contents page.
The book is divided into two parts. The first part is a discussion of the problems involved in long‐term preservation of digital documents and the technical approaches or techniques used in solving them. Chapter 1 starts with explaining the general problem of long‐term preservation, with an introduction to the most important technical approaches: migration and emulation. Chapter 2 introduces the OAIS Reference Model that serves as the general framework of the book for preserving electronic documents. Chapters 3 and 4 detail the migration and emulation approaches to long‐term preservation respectively, and point out the benefits and risks of both. In Chapter 5 the authors go on to discuss the suitability of the so‐called mark‐up languages that are used as document description languages in preserving digital data over a long term. In Chapter 6 the authors discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these document description languages, such as PDF and HTML, when applied to the long‐term preservation of digital documents. In the final chapter of Part 1 the authors recommend an approach that combines the most important techniques for long‐term preservation in such a way that they complement one another in a positive manner.
In the second part of the book, consisting of four chapters, the authors discuss recent long‐term digital document preservation projects. These include markup, migration and emulation projects, such as the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative and the Victorian Electronic Records Strategy. In the last chapter the authors introduce a catalogue of criteria for products or software systems that are on the market for the preservation or archiving of digital documents.
The book includes a detailed index, ample explanatory tables and relevant figures. Each chapter also begins with a clear summary, and each paragraph includes a keyword in the margin that describes the main idea of that paragraph. There is also a comprehensive list of references, including internet sites, at the end of the book which are recommended for a more in‐depth understanding of the different techniques for preserving digital documents.
The book is user friendly and well structured with a pleasant layout. It is accessible to different user groups, and targets a broad audience including archivists, records managers, librarians, computer scientists and information managers – anyone interested in the long‐term preservation of digital documents. Because of its accessible design and language, and its introductory nature to the field of digital preservation, this book can be recommended as necessary reading for all students and professionals in the field of information management.
