A presentation about the challenges of long term digital preservation of CAD, Digital Audio Tapes, digital videotapes, websites, social media, email, text documents, and images at the Smithsonian Institution Archives. Given by Lynda Schmitz Fuhrig, Electronic Archivist, at the Smithsonian Institution Digitization Fair held in Washington, DC in 2010.

1. Preserving Digital Materials at the Smithsonian Institution Archives Lynda Schmitz Fuhrig Electronic Records Archivist

2. Long-term digital preservation More than 350 accessions contain electronic records in a variety of types including video, sound, images, databases, applications, websites, and text. These range from exhibit planning documents to unit handbooks to conference images. One collection can contain thousands of files Files arrive via removable media or file transfer Goal is to ensure authenticity, integrity, and accessibility Use best practices and accepted archival standards Use formats that are open, lossless, and widely accepted. Proprietary formats, i.e., Microsoft Word and WordPerfect are problematic Document all processing steps including virus scans and checksums Perform full-level preservation as much as possible. Bit preservation at minimum for files we cannot convert or emulate. Original files always maintained Images and video are the top types in terms of size Files kept on backed-up SIA servers, LTO tapes

3. CAD – Computer assisted design A 2-D CAD drawing of an aerial view of the plan for the National Museum of the American Indian, 2003. View in AutoCAD proprietary software. SIA Accession 06-012

4. Same 2-D CAD drawing preserved as a PDF file. SIA Accession 06-012

5. Digital audio tapes Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra Lena Horne Jazz Smithsonian Radio Broadcast with Lena Horne, “A Spanish Tinge,” 1997 All clips from SIA Accession 04-062 Introduction by David Baker, SMJO “Manteca” performed by SMJO Using DAT machine on loan from Smithsonian Folkways to conduct digital-to-digital transfers Audio files being preserved as WAV/Broadcast WAV

7. Preservation tools and formats/codecs not as straightforward as other types.

9. Email collections Conducted three-year grant-funded project to study techniques for long-term preservation of email collections Resulted in tools and procedures now in use at SI Archives

10. Images Roxie C. Laybourne, a pioneering forensic scientist at the Smithsonian Institution, examines aircraft parts. SIA Accession 04-086 Exhibition photograph from the National Portrait Gallery’s “Champions of American Sport.” SIA Accession 09-066 Original formats include GIF, JPG, EPS, TIF, PCD, etc. Accepted preservation format currently is TIF. Smithsonian American Art Museum staff paints the “Wall of Expression” in commemoration of Sept. 11, 2001. SIA Accession 03-127

11. Text documents MS Word document from SIA Accession 02-094 WordPerfect document from SIA Accession 95-052 Rich Text Format (RTF) document from SIA Accession 06-058 Numerous word-processing files and spreadsheets Preservation format is PDF/A or PDF