Global ‘Bit List’ of Endangered Digital Species 2023 Released on World Digital Preservation Day

From the Digital Preservation Council (DPC):

The Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) has released its 2023 edition of the Global ‘Bit List’ of Endangered Digital Species today, on World Digital Preservation Day.

An open resource for digital preservation advocacy, the DPC’s Global Bit List of Endangered Digital Species (Bit List) is a community-sourced list of at-risk digital materials which is revised every two years. Entries to the list are nominated by the community, who are at the forefront of digital preservation efforts, and entries are reviewed by the Bit List Council – a group of international organizations which represent global expertise in the preservation of the listed digital species.

In 2023, the Bit List comprises 87 entries – a marked increase from 73 in 2021. While significant new entries include ‘First Nations Secret/Sacred Cultural Material,’ several other entries have been rescoped, merged and disaggregated which has contributed to this overall increase.

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Dr. William Kilbride, Executive Director of the DPC commented on the context of the list:

“It’s been a year since we last issues the Bit List. In that year, Twitter and its communities have effectively been destroyed. It’s the year in which an American president was indicted for corruptly concealing documents and corruptly altering, destroying, mutilating, or concealing documents and records. It’s the year in which a former UK Prime Minister forgot the passcode to his phone and the messages that were stored there; and a serving UK Prime Minister defied a High Court ruling to disclose messages to a public enquiry. It’s been the year in which the Prime Minster of Cambodia deleted his Facebook Account, including live-streamed speeches threatening violence against his opponents. It’s the year in which the bombing of a hospital, apparently misreported, prevented a summit of Arab leaders with the US President in a rapidly escalating conflict.”

“We cannot afford to be complacent about the loss of bits and bytes. The preservation of authentic digital materials cannot be taken for granted, and it’s never been more essential.”

Direct to Complete Publication Announcement

Direct to Full Text Report: Global ‘Bit List’ of Endangered Digital Species
175 pages; PDF. 

Filed under: Associations and Organizations, Digital Preservation, News, Preservation