By Elyssa Everling
The preservation of data has always been a goal of humans, whether it is through oral traditions, stone tablets, rice paper, floppy discs, records, CDs, flash drives or HTML coding. We have sought to share and maintain our history with those who come after us. None of this is truer than for those in the information field. Those of us who have chosen this career have been tasked with curating all of the data and making it attainable by the generations who come after us.
The preservation of data has always been a goal of humans, whether it is through oral traditions, stone tablets, rice paper, floppy discs, records, CDs, flash drives or HTML coding. We have sought to share and maintain our history with those who come after us. None of this is truer than for those in the information field. Those of us who have chosen this career have been tasked with curating all of the data and making it attainable by the generations who come after us.
Ever-Changing Digital Preservation
With the advent of the computer, the preservation and storage of both new and old information has taken many forms. From the first photographs from the late 19th century to the most recent advances, such as cloud storage, people have been documenting everything from family vacation to world altering events. Artwork has long been preserved behind glass cases, scanned into a file and linked on the internet to prevent deterioration.
However, with the rise of digital art, the question of how to preserve that has begun to be asked. Unlike physical art, it is intangible, yet still susceptible to quite a few things that can make it difficult to maintain. Floppy discs became difficult to maintain, even a small bump could disrupt the information, or it could just become obsolete too fast, before anyone could update it to a newer, better form of storage. Digital art can be objects created using computer software, recordings of music, movies, stage productions and other intangible art. There are already standards for preserving traditional art forms, how to preserve digital art has been left to each of the institutions that has digital art to preserve. (Mayfield, 2002).
It is important that information not only be accessible, but also kept to its original intent as much as possible. Because if it is not to its original intent, it is not the information the artist was trying to pass along to those who viewed it. It puts into question the integrity of preserving artwork, if not done properly, it can be more of a detriment to what the profession is trying to accomplish.
One of the major problems of archiving and preserving digital art, is that, especially with recordings, the performances lose a certain degree of its original intent. This is because every time it is performed, it is done by different actors in a different mindset and audience. That is not always captured in a recording that has been edited. Another problem that exists with the ever changing digital technology is that we cannot say how things created with technology today will be transferred to and received on newer technology. Digital preservation involves the retention of both the information object and its meaning. It is therefore necessary that preservation techniques be able to understand and re-create the original form or function of the object to ensure its authenticity and accessibility. (Lee, Slattery, Lu, Tang, & McCrary, 2002, p. 93-94). The artist may not even want their artwork transferred onto newer storage utilities if it messes too much with the work’s original intent. Not to mention, deceased artists who have no say in how their works are stored. (Mayfield, 2002).
It is no doubt to anyone that technology has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last 10-20 years and will continue to explore and upgrade in the decades to come, but no one can really say where technology will go in the future. But, as society moves forward I have no doubt that we will come up with new, innovative and better ways to store, maintain and view artwork in whatever form it takes.
However, with the rise of digital art, the question of how to preserve that has begun to be asked. Unlike physical art, it is intangible, yet still susceptible to quite a few things that can make it difficult to maintain. Floppy discs became difficult to maintain, even a small bump could disrupt the information, or it could just become obsolete too fast, before anyone could update it to a newer, better form of storage. Digital art can be objects created using computer software, recordings of music, movies, stage productions and other intangible art. There are already standards for preserving traditional art forms, how to preserve digital art has been left to each of the institutions that has digital art to preserve. (Mayfield, 2002).
It is important that information not only be accessible, but also kept to its original intent as much as possible. Because if it is not to its original intent, it is not the information the artist was trying to pass along to those who viewed it. It puts into question the integrity of preserving artwork, if not done properly, it can be more of a detriment to what the profession is trying to accomplish.
One of the major problems of archiving and preserving digital art, is that, especially with recordings, the performances lose a certain degree of its original intent. This is because every time it is performed, it is done by different actors in a different mindset and audience. That is not always captured in a recording that has been edited. Another problem that exists with the ever changing digital technology is that we cannot say how things created with technology today will be transferred to and received on newer technology. Digital preservation involves the retention of both the information object and its meaning. It is therefore necessary that preservation techniques be able to understand and re-create the original form or function of the object to ensure its authenticity and accessibility. (Lee, Slattery, Lu, Tang, & McCrary, 2002, p. 93-94). The artist may not even want their artwork transferred onto newer storage utilities if it messes too much with the work’s original intent. Not to mention, deceased artists who have no say in how their works are stored. (Mayfield, 2002).
It is no doubt to anyone that technology has progressed by leaps and bounds in the last 10-20 years and will continue to explore and upgrade in the decades to come, but no one can really say where technology will go in the future. But, as society moves forward I have no doubt that we will come up with new, innovative and better ways to store, maintain and view artwork in whatever form it takes.
References
Lee, K.,
Slattery, O., Lu, R., Tang, X., & McCrary, V. (2002).
The State of the Art and Practice in Digital Preservation. National Institute of Standards
and Technology, 107(1),
93-106.
Mayfield,
K. (2002, July 23). How to Preserve Digital
Art.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/2002/07/53712
It is interesting that this has become a modern day dilemma-- how to preserve digital content in a way that future generations will be able to view it. I also think that transferring a digital recording to another format (from floppy to a memory stick) would cause some degrading of the quality of the overall production as well. So eventually the end result wouldn't be very good.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if we will ever find a way to preserve things that can always be accessed?
I had not previously considered the difficulties in preserving digital art. Unfortunately, I believe there will almost always be the issue of how to preserve digital art and maintain its original intent, especially with technology continually upgrading. As time goes on, I do believe that standards for preserving digital art will be created to make the whole process a heck of a lot easier.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if we will or not, Kerry. I certainly hope so, or we are going to lose some really important information. I do hope the standards increase as well. If we can't have the original intent, I would like to at least have something close to it.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
Elyssa
I like that you stressed the importance of keeping information and art to its original intent. As librarians and archivists, it is not our jobs to interpret, it is only our jobs to preserve and present it. This is a wonderful blog, all of the articles have provided a nice window into the archive profession, which I am unfamiliar with.
ReplyDeleteSarah, I also agree that it is not the librarians’ job to put their own personal opinions into the interpretation. Completely agree with what you say about preserving and presenting, but also think it is our job to help others navigate through the vast amount of knowledge.
DeleteNice work, Elyssa. I think that finding a means to properly preserve 'intangible art' is also going to elevate its form among members of the high art world. I helped edit an 'arts and literature' publication for the college where I am employed and my colleagues and I discussed how the usage of technology needs to be considered part of the 'art process' in altering photographs, for example. It requires certain skills and know-how, as digital preservation does, and we commented how that needs to be upheld and respected by the masses.
ReplyDeleteAnother example would be video games. How are LIS professionals preserving these types of items? There are, of course, individuals that go to great lengths to create emulators in an attempt of preservation. However, much like other forms of digital art, this results in a loss of quality, meaning, and user experience.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the post!