Introduction.

The preservation of digital resources is about finding ways to maintain our digital heritage, whether it exists in the form of e-journals, database records, Web sites, emails, digital images, audio-visual materials, interactive programs, or any other kind of binary data. Libraries frequently engage with a wide variety of these resources and understand how quickly and easily we lose use of them when computers change or links break.

I have been privileged to work in national libraries for nine years, devoting my time solely to the task of digital preservation. In that time many different solutions have been proposed, and as many opinions have been voiced about whether these solutions will work. While it is often perceived that these opinions contradict or argue with each other, the real answer is in finding the balance of what works in a particular situation. I hope that through this issue of Library Trends we may start to see how each solution has its own benefit in a particular context.

All the articles in this issue agree on the challenges of digital preservation: the burgeoning volumes of digital resources to be dealt with; the temporary nature of digital materials, particularly the rapid changes in their formats; and the massive organizational revolution required to work with and preserve digital materials, including the associated costs. However, the context in which digital preservation challenges apply is a highly important factor in making the right choice of a solution. For example, the context of the data can change its meaning and use. The context of the resource can change its relevance and integrity. The context of a collection in an organization can impact its value, and the context of a collecting organization…