This page outlines ORA's stance and actions on digital preservation. One of the key benefits of depositing your thesis to ORA is the longevity of our collection ensured by our work to preserve it.
Now that a great deal of scholarly information is produced electronically, libraries and others are having to tackle the problem of not only storing, but ensuring that digital resources are accessible for the long term. The main problems associated with digital resources are:
The Bodleian Libraries are committed to working towards solutions to digital preservation for the items held in ORA. To that end it is working with other bodies across the UK to develop the means to ensure that items are stored and accessible in the long-term.
ORA has been developed in such a way that the processes necessary for digital preservation are in place and working. These include procedures such as file format recognition and preservation 'events' in the maintenance schedule or ORA.
This commitment to digital preservation means that the Bodleian Libraries' staff may need to migrate items to newer formats or take other action in order to ensure that items are available and accessible. This is one of the reasons why users are required to agree to the deposit statement on deposit.
The Bodleian Libraries preserves its digital collections with the same level of commitment as it has preserved its physical collections over many centuries. Digital preservation is essential to the Libraries' ability to support current and future research, teaching and learning.