6.4.1 Introduction

6.4.1.1  Once the action has been taken to convert the audio content to a suitable digital storage format for storage on a digital storage system, as defined earlier in this document, there is still a requirement to manage the ongoing preservation of the content. Section 6.3 Archival Storage includes a description of the issues surrounding management of the byte stream, i.e. ensuring that the digitally encoded data retains its logical structure through management of the storage technology.

6.4.1.2  There is, however, another aspect to the preservation of digital information, and that is ensuring that it is still possible to access the content encoded in those files. OAIS calls this function “preservation planning”, and describes it as “the services and functions for monitoring the environmentà and providing recommendations to ensure that the information storedà remains accessible to the Designated User Community over the long term, even if the original computing environment becomes obsolete” (OAIS 2002:4.2).

6.4.1.3  Preservation planning is the process of knowing the technical issues in the repository, identifying the future preservation direction (pathways), and determining when a preservation action, such as format migration, will need to be made.