This is a question of prime importance since digitization is all about sustainability. So, you might have your Digital Objects being stored in an environment that you deem 100% stable and secure. Let’s say within Oracle. Something you deem as safe as the Fed, and your data is also physically stored far away from you, out of the reach of any threat that might ever come up to it.
However, there has been a number of IT Tech giants that the whole world deemed as everlasting, and still, at some point in history they simply disappeared completely. For example, who remembers AOL in 2026? Or Commodore and Atari, who used to be quite big players once, but are being remembered only by retrocomputing enthusiasts nowadays.
And the same thing might apply also to Oracle. Rumours are that the current hype called AI led to some serious funding shortage issues with them, seemingly three-figure billions, leading to job cuts in the tens of thousands. Link here (only in German, unfortunately).
So, what if Oracle should completely close down unexpectedly? What about your Digital Objects that you created and maintained with an awful lot of heart and soul and meticulous editorial work? Let’s face it: Chances are that you are going to lose them completely. Global investment stakeholders couldn’t care less about your cultural heritage, that is for sure.
You’d be better off when your Digital Objects were stored in a form that is:
- Machine readable as well as Human readable (at least as long as a thing like a text editor exists).
- Strictly following international non-proprietary standards: LIDO for collection objects, METS for library items and EAD for archivalia.
- Interoperable and interchangeable with other Institutions of Custody.
- Storable where you like them to. You may also leave it to us, then we will thoroughly care for long-time storage including software versioning.
Please feel free to drop us a line here or send us mail under info@digital-heritage-minds.com if you’re interested in standardized storage of your Digital Objects and appropriate care about them!