Digital Preservation Needs and Requirements in RLG Member Institutions

By Margaret Hedstrom and Sheon Montgomery
December 1998
A study commissioned by the Research Libraries Group

Executive Summary

Libraries, archives, and museums play a critical role in organizing, preserving, and providing access to the cultural and historical resources of society. Digital technologies are used increasingly for information production, distribution, and storage. The institutions that have traditionally assumed responsibility for preserving information face technical, organizational, resource, and legal challenges in taking on the preservation of digital holdings.

The Research Libraries Group (RLG) is an international consortium of universities and colleges, national libraries, archives, historical societies, museums, independent research collections, and public libraries. Its mission is to "improve access to information that supports research and learning"-through collaborative activities and services that include organizing and preserving as well as sharing information resources. In early 1998, RLG funded a study by Dr. Margaret Hedstrom and Sheon Montgomery of the status of digital archiving in its member institutions. The primary purpose was to assess where guidance, education and training, storage, and digital preservation services are required, in order to develop the kind of training, mechanisms for resource sharing, and services that meet members' needs.
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