New Journal Article: “Metadata Provenance and Vulnerability”

The following article was recently published in Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL), a (Library and Information Technology Association (LITA) publication.
Title
Metadata Provenance and Vulnerability
Authors
Timothy Robert Hart
Flinders University (Australia)
Denise de Vries
Flinders University (Australia)
Source
Information Technology and Libraries (ITAL)
Vol 36, No 4 (2017)
doi: 10.6017/ital.v36i4.10146
Abstract

The preservation of digital objects has become an urgent task in recent years as it has been realised that digital media have a short life span. The pace of technological change makes accessing these media increasingly difficult. Digital preservation is primarily accomplished by main methods, migration and emulation. Migration has been proven to be a lossy method for many types of digital objects. Emulation is much more complex; however, it allows preserved digital objects to be rendered in their original format, which is especially important for complex types such as those comprising multiple dynamic files. Both methods rely on good metadata to maintain change history or construct an accurate representation of the required system environment.
In this paper, we present our findings that show the vulnerability of metadata and how easily they can be lost and corrupted by everyday use. Furthermore, this paper aspires to raise awareness and to emphasise the necessity of caution and expertise when handling digital data by highlighting the importance of provenance metadata.

Direct to Full Text Article (10 pages; PDF)

Filed under: Data Files, Digital Preservation, Journal Articles, Libraries, News, Preservation