Preservation of Digital Heritage Materials in the 21st Century

Today, most of the cultural and heritage materials are being converted into digitized forms to provide immediate accessibility anywhere in the world. But due to obsolescence of formats, hardware, software and carriers, digital information will be lost unless we act. Hence preservation of digital materials for the benefit of present and future generations is an urgent issue to address. The present article explores various strategies and methodologies for preserving digital heritage materials; discusses issues concerning digital preservation (DP); enjoins upon the national libraries to take the responsibility for DP with the co-operation of several stakeholders–the Government, publishers and IT industry; gives an overview of initiatives taken by the national libraries world wide for preserving digital heritage materials; and discusses Indian scenario. It also focuses on the pressing need for the national library, state libraries, museums and libraries to work together more closely to successfully organize digital archiving in the 21^st century.