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Free and open source software (FOSS) brings many benefits to digital preservation; however it is not “free”. If the context in which free and open source software tools are created and employed is examined, it becomes clear that: the sustainability of any software (FOSS, custom or commercial) to ensure the preservation of the digital heritage will depend on careful assessment of, and provision for, the costs (implicit and explicit) entailed in the production and continued employment of these tools. The purpose of this paper is to focus on FOSS and archiving of the digital heritage.

Portico, a not‐for‐profit digital preservation service, explores the costs of FOSS based on its experiences as a working archive with an extremely long time horizon.

There are considerable benefits to FOSS, including its openness and the broad‐based testing of it in real‐world situations. FOSS tools can provide considerable cost savings over proprietary tools. However, FOSS is neither free to use, nor to create, nor to maintain. Digital preservation organizations must inventory not only the FOSS tools in the preservation arsenal, but the network of sustaining tools (FOSS and otherwise), documentation, and “tribal knowledge” that make these tools effectively usable. The risks to sustainability of this network of resources must be assessed, and determine what it will cost to keep them viable. Strategies will have to be considered and implemented for providing the means to sustain these resources. An engaged community of use is the best guarantor of the vitality of any FOSS tool. As that community wanes, it becomes even more essential to capture the significant properties and domain knowledge about that tool. Creators of new software in the digital preservation space have a particular obligation to provide and maintain information about the significant properties of that software.

The paper shows how Portico brings its practical experiences integrating multiple FOSS tools to bear on an analysis of the costs to creating and maintaining these tools over the long‐term.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the digital preservation practices in institutional repositories (IRs) in Africa.

Data were collected from the IRs developed in university libraries in Africa, and it was done in two phases. The phases are website investigation to identify the university libraries in Africa that have developed IR and online questionnaire.

Results from the study showed that the majority of IRs in Africa used DSpace software to manage their digital contents, and more than half of the IRs engage in information migration. The study also revealed that the majority of the responding institutions provide long-term digital preservation in their IR. Interestingly, the majority of the IRs has developed digital preservation policy to guide the implementation of digital preservation for IR contents. Finally, the majority of the respondents indicated that they do not have long-term funding and lack the necessary technical staff with required skills to handle and manage the IR.

Because of language barriers, data were collected from only universities in English speaking countries in Africa.

The findings of this study will make librarians in universities in Africa and other developing countries understand the key issues relating to digital preservation and longevity.

The findings of this study will inform information professionals, librarians in developing countries that are planning to create IRs and provide long-term digital preservation of electronic resources in their institution.

The purpose of this paper is to examine digital preservation of e-government in Ghana under the research question: what are the current digital preservation strategies being deployed across the ministries and agencies in Ghana?

Guided by a conceptual framework, underpinned by a quantitative approach, the paper uses the survey approach, to address the digital preservation strategies deployed across public sector organisations in Ghana. It underscores the link between the conceptual framework and the literature to analyse the various digital preservation strategies.

Backup strategy, migration, metadata and trusted repositories were noted as the most widely implemented preservation strategies across the ministries and agencies. On the other hand, cloud computing, refreshing and emulation were the least implemented strategies used to address the digital preservation challenges.

The paper adds to the existing conceptual underpinnings that have dominated the debate about data management, archival storage, preservation strategies, challenges and best practices of digital preservation of e-government.

This study draws its originality from the evidence of studies on digital preservation in Ghana as most studies have rather focussed on the preservation of documentary heritage, preservation and security of microfilms, preservation practices in the public records (Akussah, 2002; Ampofo, 2009; Festus, 2010). The emergence of this study addresses the knowledge gap in the preservation of digital records in a country where little attention has been accorded to digital preservation. The study also feeds into Ghana’s vision 2020 and the information communication technology policy document of the ministry of communication which aims at ensuring that Ghanaians have access to information and communication technology products and services.

This paper explores the adoption of cloud computing for digital preservation, focusing on the case of Preservica, a leading provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS)-based digital preservation solutions. This study aims to analyse Preservica’s approach to long-term active digital preservation (LTADP) based on internationally accepted standards.

The research paper conducts an in-depth analysis of Preservica’s SaaS-based cloud computing solution in relation to ISO 14721:2012 (OAIS) and ISO 9001 standards. It examines the steps followed by Preservica for LTADP and highlights the importance of adherence to relevant standards.

Preservica’s adoption of cloud computing and the SaaS model offers scalable, cost-effective and flexible solutions for digital preservation. By adhering to internationally accepted standards and following a comprehensive set of LTADP steps, including file format identification, compatibility checks, checksum creation, secure storage, preservation status tracking, change monitoring, format migration and periodic testing, Preservica ensures the long-term preservation and accessibility of digital content.

This research contributes to the understanding of how cloud computing can be effectively used for digital preservation by examining Preservica’s approach. It emphasizes the significance of adherence to internationally accepted standards and highlights the benefits of integrating acceptance models to optimize the implementation and user acceptance of Preservica.

This paper describes the development of the veraPDF validator. The objective of veraPDF is to build an industry supported, open source validator for all parts and conformance levels of the PDF/A specification for archival PDF documents. The project is led by the Open Preservation Foundation and the PDF Association and is funded by the EU PREFORMA project.

veraPDF is designed to meet the needs of the digital preservation community and the PDF industry alike. The technology is subject to the review of and acceptance by the PDF Association’s PDF Validation Technical Working Group, including many participants of the relevant ISO working groups. Cultural heritage institutions are collecting ever-increasing volumes of digital information, which they have a mandate to preserve for the long term. However, in many cases, they need to ensure their content has been produced to the specifications of a standard file format, as well as any acceptance criteria stated in their institutional policy.

With increasing knowledge and experience of processes and policies, cultural heritage institutions are influencing the production and development of digital preservation software. The product development funded by the PREFORMA project shows how such cooperation can benefit the community as a whole.

This paper describes the value of an open source approach to developing a PDF/A validator for cultural heritage organisations.

Digital preservation requires new skills and collaboration among library staff to maintain long-term access to information resources. Digital content and digital technologies pose a serious challenge to information institutions to continue to select, preserve and access information resources. However, there is an urgent need to increase awareness of the new trends in the partnership between research communities and academic libraries; there is also a need for new digital preservation-related skills among librarians. Therefore, this research aims to investigate the benefits, importance, requirements and challenges of digital preservation in academic libraries in Jordan.

A questionnaire was disseminated to 150 library staff working at the 10 public universities in Jordan, with 133 questionnaires suitable to analyze with a response rate of (88.6%).

The results indicate a moderate perception of the benefits and importance of digital preservation, as well as the requirements and challenges in academic libraries in Jordan to carry out the digital preservation process. This indicated the importance of increasing the academic libraries' – specifically academic libraries in Jordan – awareness of the vast and important benefits of digital preservation to maintain long-term access to information. It was noted that factors such as sex, experience, educational level and specialization did not affect the results.

The findings will provide insights for other academic libraries on how to plan and develop preservation policies to maintain access to information.

Access to information is a human right that contributes to the advocacy of sustainable development, and hence, digital preservation can facilitate long-term availability and accessibility to information.

This paper provides insights and practical solutions for academic libraries in response to technological development and the change requirements. It will help academic libraries handle and cope with the challenges of providing distance library services over digital channels.

The paper's aim is to describe the world of retrocomputing, a constellation of largely non‐professional practices involving old computing technology. It seeks to show how retrocomputing serves the goals of collection and preservation, particularly in regards to historic software, and how retrocomputing practices challenge traditional notions of authenticity. It then seeks to propose an alternative conceptualization and suggest new avenues for collaboration between retrocomputing practitioners and memory institutions.

The paper is based on extensive observation of retrocomputing projects, conducted primarily online.

Retrocomputing includes many activities that can be seen as constituting collection and preservation. At the same time, it is often transformative, producing assemblages that “remix” fragments from the past with newer elements or joining together historic components that were never combined before. While such “remix” may seem to undermine preservation, it also allows for fragments of computing history to be reintegrated into a living, ongoing practice, contributing to preservation in a broader sense. The seemingly unorganized nature of retrocomputing assemblages also provides space for alternative “situated knowledges” and histories of computing, which can sometimes be quite sophisticated.

Retrocomputing challenges established notions of collection and preservation. A “situated knowledges” perspective provides a possible resolution.

Retrocomputing presents memory institutions (and libraries in particular) with an opportunity for new forms of collaboration in collection and preservation of software applications.

The paper puts at the center the ways in which retrocomputing challenges the established notions of collection and preservation. It offers alternative conceptualizations that suggest new forms of collaboration.

This study aims to explore the present status of open-source institutional repository (IR) software’s usage in the university libraries of Islamabad. This study also investigates the views, satisfaction level and challenges of librarians in the adoption and use of IR software.

A survey was conducted to collect data from the Library Information Science (LIS) professionals working in the university libraries of Islamabad. Data were collected from all library professionals of the Islamabad university libraries by using a structured questionnaire. Out of the total 104 LIS professionals, 84 participated in the study with a response ratio of 80.76%.

The findings disclose that out of 23 universities recognized by Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Islamabad, 17 (public and private) have developed IRs. Currently, university libraries that have fully implemented the IRs are less as compared with those universities that have partially implemented IR software. However, a good number of university libraries are in the process to develop IRs. Free and open-source software is being used mostly in libraries as compared with in-house developed, locally developed or commercial software. The opinion of librarians about using IR software expressed a positive attitude of librarians. Some of the major challenges encountered by the librarians in using open-source IR software include selection of suitable software and materials for digitization, lack of cooperation from the parent organization, inadequate training opportunities and lack of skilled staff.

This study is geographically limited to the university libraries in Islamabad.

This study will encourage the Pakistani LIS professionals to use open-source software for the development of IRs in their libraries.

This study concludes that the development of IRs in university libraries is a need of the hour. Although the launching of IRs requires certain skills and competencies, Pakistani librarians can overcome these challenges by mastering the ICT skills.