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Introduction

The enthusiastic and increasing use of electronic media for storing information of various kinds demonstrates the utility of the format and its possibilities.

In the field of cultural heritage, there is an enormous amount of significant information in digital form. These data are vulnerable on many levels. Because of the increasingly fast cycle of obsolescence in hardware and software, we are at the point where the proliferation of electronic data on various platforms has prompted some serious concerns about the long-term protection of the data.

A number of international organizations are examining technological issues that bear on the problem, including data types, media stability, and options for refreshing and migrating data to ever-evolving platforms.

There is, however, an important gap in the discussions.

An integrated technical and philosophical discussion of digital archives and their future that includes the sociocultural and economic implications of both the problems and the solutions could provide a framework for long-term digital cultural preservation.

The Getty Conservation Institute and the Getty Information Institute [of the J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles] are collaborating with the Long Now Foundation [San Francisco] to generate some strategic thinking on these issues with important digital theorists. In February of 1998, we will convene a small group at The Getty Center to share concerns and expertise in technology, culture, and time.

We will use this Web site to present certain ideas for moderated discussion, including a summary of the state of the technological work. We will post comments and incorporate some of them into the body of work being collected.

The on-line discussion and meeting should provide a set of insightful and responsible recommendations that will chart a thoughtful course for the resolution of problems related to long-term digital data protection, preservation, and reconstruction.

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