A generic XML language for characterising objects to support digital preservation

The dominance of digital objects in today's information landscape has changed the way humankind creates and exchanges information. However, it has also brought an entirely new problem: the longevity of digital objects. Due to the fast changes in technologies, digital documents have a short lifespan before they become obsolete. Digital preservation, i.e. actions to ensure longevity of digital information, thus has become a pressing challenge. Different strategies such as migration and emulation have been proposed; however, the decision between available tools for format migration is very complex. Preservation planning supports decision makers in reaching accountable decisions by evaluating potential strategies against well-defined requirements. Especially the evaluation of different migration tools for digital preservation has to rely on validating the converted objects and thus on an analysis of the logical structure and the content of documents. This paper presents the eXtensibl...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2008
• Where: SAC
• Authors: Christoph Becker, Andreas Rauber, Volker Heydegger, Jan Schnasse, Manfred Thaller
• Keywords: Applied Computing, Digital, Digital Preservation, Document, SAC 2008