Entries
3D Digital Engineering Drawings
3D digital engineering models produced as part of building or engineering design processes. The production of such drawings has progressed from a digital analogue of paper to complex digital environments such as BIM (Building Information Modelling) which combine original drawings, libraries of compound objects, and links to external data sets such as about the performance of materials and maintenance of parts.
Adobe Flash Animations and Interactive Applets
Animations, games, and other interactive applets created with Macromedia Adobe Flash Player and Shockwave Flash, along with their accompanying websites. These are primarily .swf files, but they can also include networked collections of .swf files and external assets, as well as the web pages where they are displayed.
Always Online Games
Video games that are required to be continuously online. Gameplay is referenced here particularly as means of participation, along with social media and in-game interaction between players. This can include Massively Multiplayer Online games and single player games with always-on DRM.
Born Digital Photographs and Video shared via Social Media or Uploaded to Cloud Services
Digital images or video with no analogue equivalent and where the only copy is online with a social media platform. This entry includes images or videos created and shared as part of personal digital archiving, but also for businesses and others publishing data only via these services. Users of these services will likely lose their data if social media companies fold or make extracting or downloading data difficult.
Cloud Storage
Materials routinely copied or backed up to an independently managed, off-site data storage facility and able to be restored under contractual terms
Cloud-based Services and Communications Platforms
Digital content produced, stored and accessed within commercial cloud-based services and communications platforms. This entry broadly includes services based on a costed subscription and contract business models, premium or institutional versions, and also free online utilities offered at no cost to end-users but with a business model based on gathering and reselling consumer insights.
Collections Information Management Data and Systems
Descriptive information and data, covering both the systems (databases) and the data they contain. This includes information made publicly available, and information only available for internal use.
Commercial Software
Computer software that is produced for sale or that serves commercial purposes, including previous editions and versions of software that are not available or no longer in use. This entry broadly includes proprietary software, access through licences or subscription business models.
Community-generated Content in Arts and Heritage
Digital materials produced and shared in and by ad-hoc community art and heritage projects, typically through digitization, where the creation of digital materials was a significant purpose of the initiative.
Completed Investigations Based on Open Source Intelligence Sources
Open source social media and web content that has been used to support the conclusions of crowd-sourced investigation and fact-checking in political or military conflict.
Consumer Social Media Free at the Point of Use
Social media platforms free at the point of use with a business model based on reselling user data for consumer behavior and/or advertising analysis, mainly for profit-driven corporations. This entry broadly includes digital content created, shared and hosted on social media platforms as well as current interfaces of social media platforms.
Content on Cloud Video Services Produced by the Service Provider
Video materials, primarily films and television programs, which are produced by companies that maintain their own distribution platforms and are exclusively available through these platforms.
Content Published on the Web Which Cannot Easily Be Captured Through Conventional Web Archiving Practices
Material that is not capturable via conventional web-archiving practices (i.e. remote capture with a non-browser-based crawler). The common characteristic of the material is not so much the type of content, or the context but rather the preservation risk posed to the material as a result of decisions made by the website creators, to use technologies and make design decisions that do not support the capture of the content, combined with the limitations of current web archiving processes.
Contractual Documents and Related Records
Documents, correspondence and other records created in the course of contractual dealings between individuals and agencies, especially where the subjects are of long duration and may be subject to legal scrutiny at undefined points in the distant future.
Corporate Records of Long Duration on Network Drives, Intranets and EDRMS
Records on internal corporate network drives, intranets or document management services where access is limited to a distinct group of users, and in which the lifecycle of the record or the business processes they support is greater than the technology on which they are created or retained.
Correspondence and Informal Records of Research
Correspondence and other records which describe the configuration and delivery of research, but which are ancillary to the core research outputs, including reviews, drafts and correspondence between researchers.
Current Hard Disk Technologies
Materials saved to storage devices with a variety of underlying magnetic or solid-state (flash) technologies that are hardwired into a computer still under warranty or supported: typically hard disks that are less than five years old.
Current Portable Magnetic Media
Materials saved to magnetic tape, portable hard disks or other magnetic media in the last five years where the reader devices are still supported and can be integrated easily into hardware infrastructure.
Current Portable Optical Media
Materials saved to DVDs, CDs or other optical media in the last five years where the reader devices are still supported and can be integrated easily into hardware infrastructure.
Current Portable Solid-State Media
Materials saved to flash drives or other solid-state media in the last five years where the reader devices are still supported and can be integrated easily into hardware infrastructure.
Custom Online Databases
Data collected, presented and disseminated in custom online databases that is not stored elsewhere, particularly data at risk when it is locked in the database because no export or harvest options are available.
Data Posted to Defunct or Little-used Social Media Platforms
Older or less widely used social media platforms to which content has been uploaded but for which no guarantees have been made about the long term.
Digital Archives from Public Enquiries and Commissions
Data from public enquiries and reconciliation commissions which can be traumatic, politically uncomfortable and contested, typically comes in many different forms and formats. Data protection issues and cultural sensitivities only amplify the challenge to preservations.
Digital Archives of Community Groups
Digital materials including ephemera, correspondence and campaign materials created as a by-product of small scale or ad-hoc community action groups.
Digital Archives of Music Production
Digital materials created by musicians and fans as a by-product of performance or recording, not otherwise published or shared. The use of ‘archives’ in this context refers to music production data that is in an archive.
Digital Evidence and Records of Investigation Prior to Court
Digital materials assessed by police and other authorities in the course of investigation and retained as evidence of due process such as case files and correspondence, including materials not submitted to court.
Digital Music and Ephemera Shared on Social Media
Digital materials created by musicians and fans as a by-product of performance or recording, shared on websites and other social media platforms.
Digital Radio Recordings
Primary and/or original recordings of radio broadcasts generated live but often poorly stored thereafter, for example offline recordings on single LTO (Linear Tape Open) Tapes.
Digital Recordings Published via Cloud-based Music Sharing Platforms
Music licensed and playable through corporate platforms protected by rights management and subscription revenues and presented as compressed single-track recordings.
Digitally Published Sheet Music
Sheet music licensed and published in various digital formats, subject to copyright restrictions and often protected by digital rights management technologies.
Electronic Hospital and Medical Records
Personal medical records and records of hospital treatment are increasingly—if not uniformly—born digital. By implication, those records should be retained through the lifetime of the patient, or in some instances longer as required for intergenerational study; and yet there is little evidence of the medical profession participating in the digital preservation community.
Documents, correspondence and other records created in the course of contractual dealings between individuals and agencies, especially where the subjects are of long duration and may be subject to legal scrutiny at undefined points in the distant future.
Evidence in Court
Digital materials presented in court as evidence or documents such as rulings and proceedings generated through legal proceedings
Exhibition Content
Born-digital or hybrid-digital content that was created and/or commissioned for exhibitions and has not been accessioned into the collection. This category is considered as an object or a 'work' in its own right, and not interpretive materials.
Family or Personal Records
Digital content and communications generated for personal consumption in a domestic setting. These records are highly valuable to family members and those interested in genealogy. They can also have wider historical/research significance to collecting institutions.
First Nations Secret/Sacred Cultural Material
This entry refers broadly to digital secret and sacred cultural material and documentation of First Nations peoples’ heritage in all forms of media. This can include born-digital materials directly or indirectly produced as outputs of research, community projects, oral histories, private or personal recordings, and/or data in databases and online platforms which have not been sustained or future-proofed.
Games with Offline Play Components
This entry is focused on games that can be played offline, often those designed for single player play while in offline mode. This does not exclude games that can be played online or have online interactive components (e.g., Sims 3 can be played online or offline), but rather the focus is on the preservation of offline single player components over the online components.
Games with Online Play Components
Video games with online components that have online elements for interactive aspects of play, in particular those with online multiplayer components. This does not exclude games that have both online multiplayer and offline single player components (e.g., Dark Souls has online multiplayer components but also has the ability for single player play in offline mode) but rather the focus on the entry is on the online components for interactive play and there is more potential to preserve the interaction. This excludes games that are no longer available legally.
Grey Literature
Semi-published research outputs such as blogs, dissertations, informal conference papers or commissioned reports which are not formally published but which can contain original and insightful contributions within scholarly communications. This entry covers a wide spectrum of very diverse types of materials which all have different preservation considerations.
Interpretive Materials
Text, graphics, videos, and other content that is used in gallery and exhibition spaces to guide audiences and provide learning experiences.
Legacy Interfaces and Services Offered Online by Major Companies
Online services with unique interfaces that change regularly and through those changes provide a different experience and different content to their users.
Legacy Media Art
Media art in storage or not otherwise displayed but where the artists or technicians are available to support installation.
Legacy Research Web Collections
Research related collections of digital content on the web which are now outdated and/or no longer actively maintained. This can include software and published or unpublished source code.
Legacy Video Files
Video files in any format containing moving pictures and sound recordings, particularly those that are proprietary, contain or utilize encrypted Digital Rights Management (DRM) or carrier bound.
Local Network Storage
Materials routinely copied or backed up to locally managed data storage facilities and able to be restored under institutional service arrangements.
Manuals, Documentation, and Associated Materials
Manuals that support physical, born-digital, and hybrid-digital museum objects, including technical manuals and that may contain diagrams, images, videos and more. Manuals may include those specifically created for the object, and/or from the supplier or manufacturer (and may exist for the entire object, or for each component part). Covered here is other documentation critical for the management, preservation, access, and display of collections objects, including conservation records. Associated materials (such as sidecar or other technical files) can provide insight into the digital content held in the collection. Encompassed in this entry is both information for internal use, supporting outgoing loans, as well as an information source for current and future researchers.
Media Art by Deceased Artists or Defunct Workshops
Media art where the artists or creative technicians are either deceased or not able to provide guidance on authenticity and installation.
Media Inside Paper Files
Media inside paper files occurred in records since the 1980s and will continue to do so for many years.
Native Cloud Formats
This entry covers all native cloud formats that exist within a cloud system but cannot be exported in their native format. The data for these formats is held within the system and they are rendered within a browser.
Non-current Hard Disk Technologies
Materials saved to storage devices with a variety of underlying magnetic or solid-state technologies that are hardwired into a computer that is no longer under warranty or supported: typically, hard disks more than five years old.
Non-current Portable Magnetic Media
Materials saved to floppy disks, tape, portable hard disks or other numerous magnetic storage devices where the media is out of warranty and reader devices may no longer be supported or integrated easily into hardware infrastructure: typically, more than five years old.
Non-current Portable Optical Media
Materials saved to DVDs, CDs or other optical storage devices where the media is out of warranty and reader devices may no longer be supported or integrated easily into hardware infrastructure: typically, more than five years old.
Non-current Portable Solid State Media
Materials saved to flash or other solid-state storage devices where the media is out of warranty and reader devices may no longer be supported or integrated easily into hardware infrastructure: typically, more than five years old.
Non-current, Rare Portable Magnetic Media
Materials saved to uncommon storage devices where the media is out of warranty, reader devices may no longer be supported or integrated into hardware infrastructure, and reader devices are extremely hard to acquire due to rarity: typically, more than five years old.
Non-standard Public Records
Records created in the course of public administration and subject to public records legislation but created on unofficial channels and platforms and therefore subject to unlawful destruction whether by accident or design.
Older Open Source Intelligence Sources
Older open source intelligence produced, collected and analysed from publicly available social media and web content with the purpose of answering a specific intelligence question and that supports crowd-sourced investigation and fact-checking to verify or refute claims of state agencies and rebel groups in the context of historic political or military conflict.
Open Source Intelligence Sources of Current Conflicts
Open source intelligence produced, collected and analysed from publicly, openly available social media and web content with the purpose of answering a specific intelligence question and that supports crowd-sourced investigation and fact-checking to verify or refute claims of state agencies and rebel groups in the context of current political or military conflict.
Oral Histories
Oral histories including both audio and audiovisual (video and sound), and their accompanying transcripts and/or time-pointed summaries.
Original Digital Music and Sound Recordings
Original recordings of music and other performance from which retail products are derived, typically in multiple tracks and uncompressed high-resolution sound quality.
Orphaned Works
Digital materials where copyright is uncertain, disputed or unknowable, meaning that preservation actions are constrained or prevented.
Documents presented in PDF (Portable Document Format) format (ISO 32000:1 and ISO 32000:2) and other data wrapped inside them, including all variants and versions, including PDF/A.
Pension, Mortgage and Insurance Records
Records of transactions for long-lived financial products and services contracted between individuals and corporations. These records typically contain or depend on significant amounts of personal information and outlast the infrastructure on which they were created.
Politically Sensitive Data
Digital content where the knowledge to preserve exists, and there is no threat to obsolescence, but where political interests may be served by elimination, falsification or concealment.
Pre-Production TV and Movie Materials
Digital records of the creative and production process for film and television, such as initial designs, screenplay and script, on set still photography, rushes or out-takes that are not included in the final production and therefore not available to on-air broadcast archives or film libraries.
Pre-WWW Videotex Data Services and Bulletin Board Services
Pre WWW telephone and television information services that allowed a degree of user interaction and data retrieval with modem-based two-way communication.
Pre-WWW ViewData and TeleText Services where no Archival Agency has Captured and Retained the Signal
Pre-WWW television information services broadcast within the TV signal that allowed a degree of search and retrieval of up-to-date information, based on Teletext or ViewData technologies and variants.
Published Research Data Appended to Journal Articles
Closed research data sets produced and documented in accordance with good practice and appended to a journal article or transferred to a repository that does not have sufficient subject-matter expertise or funding commitment to ensure reliable or ongoing preservation for the long term.
Published Research Papers
Completed research papers published in serials, monographs or theses which fall under specific collecting policies of research libraries or archives and are managed through dedicated repository infrastructures.
Recently Commissioned or Completed Media Art
Media art currently displayed in a gallery or in the process of being displayed.
Recordings of Video Gameplay Uploaded to Online Platforms
Recordings of game playing and e-sports that show how games are experienced and played, especially multi-user online games and tournaments.
Records of Local Government
Records from local government (i.e., below the state level) which are required for transparency and may be in many diverse forms, but in which the local authority may lack the capacity to manage the complex digital preservation requirements that arise.
Records of Non-Governmental Agencies
Records of independent agencies and contractors that act on behalf of the state in the delivery of public services, and which may be present in many diverse forms, but for which the NGO or contractors may lack the capacity to meet the complex digital preservation requirements that arise, or may have a business motive to minimize or ignore requirements for the maintenance of the record.
Records of Quasi Non-Governmental Agencies
Records from agencies at arms-length to government whether locally, nationally or internationally. They may be required to maintain archives for the purposes of transparency, sometimes for extended periods, and sometimes in diverse and complicated forms.
Research Data Published through Repositories
Research data published through digital repositories or other services providers with specialist skills to manage the data and an ongoing commitment to ensure preservation.
Research Materials and Outputs in Museums and Galleries
Digital material used in, or resulting from, research carried out on materials, digital or otherwise, held in galleries, museums, or similar. Research outcomes may not be formally published, and supporting datasets may not be formally accessioned or archived by an organization or a related organization. Access to these research materials and outcomes may only be made available for internal use, to inform other public outcomes, or for individual researchers.
Semi-Published Research Data
Data sets produced in the course of research and shared between researchers, such as by posting to a website or portal but without preservation capability or commitment. Typically the data remains in the hands of the researchers who have the job of maintaining it.
Shut Down or Discontinued Video Games
Video games where the servers have been shut down or where the game has been delisted across digital platforms and is no longer able to be legally purchased directly from the digital marketplace (loss has already happened). It includes older and non-current video games designed and played on platforms and devices that are no longer supported. This group also includes older editions of games that have been delisted and replaced by newer or remastered editions.
Smart TV Apps
Apps created for smartphones. Many are deprecated quickly but others survive through multiple update cycles. It is hard to maintain version control and often dependent upon the company that publishes them. There is no clear agency or mandate to record or collect.
Smartphone Apps
Applications created for smartphones. Many are deprecated quickly but others survive through multiple update cycles. It is hard to maintain version control and is often dependent upon the company that publishes them. There is no clear agency or mandate to record or collect.
Unpublished Research Data
Data sets produced in the course of research but never shared or made available outside of the initial research team.
Unpublished Research Data from Government Researchers
Data sets and research outputs produced in the course of government research but never shared or made available outside of the initial research. In particular, the risk classification applies to research data under government embargo, restrictions due to sensitivities, classification issues, and/or materials suppressed for ideological reasons.
Virtual Reality Materials and Experiences
Virtual reality (VR) refers to a set of technologies which build on existing 3D rendering technologies, with the aim of creating experiences which completely immerse a user in a virtual environment. The related term of Immersive Media (also known by the acronym XR) refers to a set of technologies used to create experiences, which either completely immerse a user in a virtual environment (Virtual Reality), augment the real world with virtual elements (Augmented Reality) or combine elements of the two (Mixed Reality). Key technologies include headsets, tracking systems, real-time 3D software and 360 video.
Web Domains with no Legal Deposit
This entry regards the preservation of websites and domains that fall outside a remit of legal deposit (or no legal deposit mandate exists). Web archiving is able to capture large quantities of materials with routine and standards-based tools, but there are significant issues arising with intellectual property rights associated with website capture and republication. In many jurisdictions, but by no means all, those obstacles are overcome by regulations that enable a national library or other ‘legal deposit’ agency to copy and preserve content. Where no such permission exists, there is a significant risk of loss.