Digital Preservation Metadata Practice for Computing Environments

Abstract

A digital object does not stand alone. We require a computing environment in order to render, interact with, or understand it. Over the long term, the computing environments that we use change dramatically so that the software, hardware, and formats that we once used are no longer widely available or even understood. Therefore, if we want to ensure the long-term usability of digital objects, it is necessary to either preserve their computing environments or at least bring together enough information so that the environment can be reconstructed or adapted to a changed world. Information that describes the components of the digital object’s computing environment is a key part of its preservation metadata. The need becomes even more acute as we strive to archive audiovisual files, web pages with JavaScript and Flash, office documents and spreadsheets that embed complex calculations, or research outputs with data and software. Fortunately, widespread use of emulators and virtual machines and improved focus on managing software dependencies give us options that we have not had in the past. Prompted by this growing demand, PREMIS version 3.0 (PREMIS Editorial Committee (2015) [1]) has changed the way computing environment information is recorded. The new approach greatly improves expressiveness and consistency. This chapter describes the basic concepts.