The dialog surrounding the myriad problems and uncertainties facing preservation and preservation technologies in a mostly digital (created, disseminated and stored) environment was interesting. Particularly discussions by the Cohen and Rosenzweig, and the Conway articles.
Thought they addressed some of these issues and touched on others, and granting that the articles are ancient in computer years, I though that the major digitization issues were largely glanced. I found myself puzzled at the focus on preservation modes and formats. Does it really make sense to think about computers as discrete units? In the same sense, does digital preservation mean finding a stable media platform? The strengths of the internet reside in its distributed and dispersed nature. Stability is a antiquated notion. Inversely, I think the shifting, dynamic and colaberative aspects of the internet pose more opportunities for preservation than risks. The focus should be on collaborative projects, distributed automation, like the seti@home or folding@ home projects, and LOCKSS, and most of all, an affirmative shift to multiple open standards and frameworks. What do you think sirs?
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