Digital Preservation Plan

Preservation Philosophy

The UNCG University Libraries will provide services to ensure the preservation of the digital content for which it is responsible, for as long as it is needed, and will endeavor to be standards compliant and implement regular audits of digital preservation services in order to monitor this commitment.

Preservation Strategies

In order to better ensure that digital material will continue to be accessible in the future, the UNCG University Libraries utilize open digital preservation standards and formats that can be preserved and migrated forward to new preservation formats over time or as-needed. Best practices in information technology are followed based upon the type of materials being protected.

Unique Materials

Unique materials are born-digital records. UNCG's Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) acquires, preserves, and provides access to original historical records, analog or digital, that fall within their documentary scope. The UNCG Born-Digital Records Management (BDRM) tool allows collection donors to upload unique archival digital files directly to SCUA.

Backup and file integrity specifications for unique materials:

  • IONX Verisys File integrity checks every 24 hours
  • Local Snapshots every 24 hours, kept for 10 days
  • Remote Replicas every week, kept for 5 weeks
  • Remote Replicas every month, kept for 5 months.

Digitized Materials

A digital representation of content as it exists in its original form. This may include as examples scanned copies of documents or photographs. The Digital Projects unit, a part of the Electronic Resources and Information Technologies (ERIT) Department, is responsible for the digitization of primary source materials and other historical and archival resources both within the University Libraries and for external keepers of unique historical material, including UNCG faculty and local cultural heritage organizations.

Backup specifications for digital surrogates:

  • Local Snapshots every 24 hours, kept for 14 days
  • Local Snapshots every week, kept for 5 weeks