Digital preservation

Risk assessment

In 2003, the National Library undertook a detailed assessment of the risks to the ongoing accessibility of its digital collections. This assessment was undertaken for the purposes of:

  • identifying the specific risks the Library will have to manage
  • identifying possible indicators the Library could use to signal the need to take action with enough time to develop and implement appropriate risk management responses
  • suggesting priority areas for attention in developing a new Action Plan
  • assessing the preservation implications of current and proposed arrangements for managing the Library’s digital collections.

The risk assessment was based on a detailed knowledge of the Library’s digital collections, a survey of file formats already in the collections or expected to enter the collections, scans of the external environment and the current internal arrangements and resources used or proposed to manage the digital collections.

An outline of the processes the Library used and the specific kinds of risks assessed may provide a useful model for others, and will be made available here shortly. An edited version of the detailed findings of the assessment as they relate to the Library’s own collections and activities will also be made available on this website.