SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS

14.20 Preservation metadata

Preservation metadata is structured information about a digital object, which:

Identifies the material for which a preservation programme has responsibility
Communicates what is needed to maintain and protect data
Communicates what is needed to re-present the intended object (or its defined
essential elements) to a user when needed, regardless of changes in storage and access
technologies
Records the history and the effects of what happens to the object
Documents the identity and integrity of the object as a basis for authenticity
Allows a user and the preservation programme to understand the context of the object
in storage and in use.

Arrangements for recording preservation metadata must accommodate the fact that the same
basic content (or conceptual object) may exist in many manifestations during its life. Some of
these manifestations will co-exist as digital objects, while others may follow each other in a
series of separate or overlapping generations. Some preservation programmes reflect this by
creating a record for a single version identified as a Preservation Master, documenting
variants and changes as part of the history of that object. Other programmes create a record
for each manifestation requiring preservation action, ensuring the relationships between
manifestations are explicit in their metadata records.

The information required for preservation metadata is often divided into two classes (in line
with the Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System or OAIS referred to in
chapter 8):
Content information, consisting mainly of details about the technical nature of the
object which tells the system how to re-present the data as specific data types and
formats. As access technologies change, this re-presentation metadata also needs to be
updated
Preservation description information, consisting of other information needed for long-
term management and use of the object, including identifiers and bibliographic details,
information on ownership and rights, provenance, history, context including
relationships to other objects, and validation information,

Obviously, some of this metadata may refer to other information objects such as software
tools and format specifications that must also be managed. The interdependent nature of
digital materials means that programmes often have to manage networks of linked objects and
their metadata.

There are still no accepted standards for preservation metadata schemas for universal use, so
programmes may have to choose between accepting (and possibly adapting) one of a number

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