[Pasig-discuss] Arguments for keeping an onsite copy of digitally preserved/stored digital content?

[Bogus, Ian]

As others are chiming in, diversity is key. Individual commercial providers often do not supply enforceable guarantees. Companies’ priorities and services change, and we are talking about long-term management of assets. Amazon was founded in 1994. Amazon Web Services is just about a decade old. It’s a strong company now. It will probably be a strong company in 25 or 50 years. All agreements are out the window when a company goes out of business. Even if they offered to give you a dump, would you be in a position to accept that dump on short notice?

Actively managing content from cloud services is either difficult, expensive, or both. Major format migrations will require mass retrievals and updates. Having an on-site copy is much easier to manage and control. An institution could decide put backups in commercial services to be accessed as critical events occur if they are willing to manage the costs of retrieval.

I would also put out that non-traditional uses of digital content is quicker, easier, and more thorough on-site. Text-mining comes to mind as something that is easier when you have direct access to assets. More opportunities in this vein will become apparent as time goes on.

Ian

--
Ian Bogus
MacDonald Curator of Preservation
University of Pennsylvania Libraries
3420 Walnut Street, Room 610
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6206
T. 215.573.1376
F. 215.898.0559
bogus at pobox.upenn.edu<mailto:bogus at pobox.upenn.edu>

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