Rome Wasn't Digitized in a Day - Council on Library and Information ...

249
embedded <strong>in</strong> the format, the format is applied to the document. In other words, the content
becomes primary aga<strong>in</strong>, and the appearance secondary. This type of focus is very much <strong>in</strong>
keep<strong>in</strong>g with the ways <strong>in</strong> which ancient documents have reached us: none of their copyists
would have argued that the text’s appearance was as important as its content. The appearance
will have changed every time the text was copied (Cayless 2010b, 148).
Thus a renewed focus on <strong>in</strong>tellectual content rather than physical appearance is not only important
from a digital preservation perspective, Cayless argued, but also more <strong>in</strong> keep<strong>in</strong>g with how ancient
texts were transmitted. In addition, Cayless stated that many ancient texts were transmitted with their
commentaries, and that digital texts will need to be able to have their own modern versions of
commentaries such as notes and annotations preserved as well. While both PDF and Microsoft Word
have <strong>in</strong>flexible annotation models, Cayless noted that XML allows for easier, more flexible text
annotation.
F<strong>in</strong>ally, Cayless listed five <strong>in</strong>terest<strong>in</strong>g pieces of advice for digital archivists that offer food for thought
for any long-term <strong>in</strong>frastructure plann<strong>in</strong>g for the humanities. First, as the future view or use of any
work cannot easily be predicted, due care must be taken for preserv<strong>in</strong>g a large variety of digital
resources. At the same time, Cayless reiterated how “long-term survival may best be ensured by
releas<strong>in</strong>g copies from our control” (Cayless 2010b, 149). Second, as works have vary<strong>in</strong>g cycles of
<strong>in</strong>terest, long-term preservation must account for cycles of dis<strong>in</strong>terest that could threaten the survival
of a work. Cayless thus advised digital archivists to promote the use of their whole collection,
<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g their lesser-known items. 702 Third, “self-susta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g communities of <strong>in</strong>terest” may prove the
most important factor <strong>in</strong> the long-term survival of works, so digital archivists should seek to help
connect and facilitate communication between <strong>in</strong>terested users and promote the growth of
communities. Fourth, while an entire orig<strong>in</strong>al object may not survive, the <strong>in</strong>tellectual content might
still be preserved (e.g., fragmentary texts or derivative works), so Cayless suggested that digital
archivists should perhaps worry less about ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>tegrity of digital objects outside of their
curatorial control. Fifth, the more copies of a work that exist, the more likely it will be to survive, so
digital archivists should extend efforts to obta<strong>in</strong> rights to reproduce digital resources without
limitations.
Levels of Interoperability and Infrastructure
A key issue for any long-term preservation <strong>in</strong>frastructure will be the <strong>in</strong>teroperability of its components,
such as different digital repository platforms; diverse types of widely distributed content and
heterogeneous data; and <strong>in</strong>dividual digital humanities applications, services, and tools. The ARL report
identified the press<strong>in</strong>g need for research libraries to engage with a “larger networked environment” and
stressed that digital repositories could no longer be created as isolated collections or silos and <strong>in</strong>stead
needed to be designed “<strong>in</strong> ways that allow them to participate <strong>in</strong> higher-level, cross-repository
services”(ARL 2009b).
In addition, the report by the ARL asserted that by 2015 much technology that was once managed
locally would be managed <strong>in</strong> a distributed and virtualized <strong>in</strong>frastructure such as through “cloud
comput<strong>in</strong>g,” 703 either through collaboration with<strong>in</strong> and among <strong>in</strong>stitutions or through contract<strong>in</strong>g to
702 Similar arguments were made by Audenaert and Furuta (2010), who revealed that the audience for an orig<strong>in</strong>al source is often the most widely forgotten
actor and stated that “consequently, audiences have a significant, if <strong>in</strong>direct, hand <strong>in</strong> a work by determ<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g what is accepted, what is copied, how it is
packaged and which works survive.”
703 Accord<strong>in</strong>g to Webopedia (http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/c/cloud_comput<strong>in</strong>g.html), cloud comput<strong>in</strong>g is similar to grid comput<strong>in</strong>g, and it “relies on
shar<strong>in</strong>g comput<strong>in</strong>g resources rather than hav<strong>in</strong>g local servers or personal devices to handle applications.” Cloud comput<strong>in</strong>g applies supercomput<strong>in</strong>g power
to “perform tens of trillions of computations per second, <strong>in</strong> consumer-oriented applications” and accomplishes this by network<strong>in</strong>g “large groups of servers,