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Help & guidance Guides to Good Practice

Deciding what to archive

Kieron Niven, Archaeology Data Service / Digital Antiquity, Guides to Good Practice

As stated throughout this guide and by Knight (2005), “the moment of creation is the most important stage of digital audio preservation” and, where possible the original file should be preserved in a format which captures and maintains its significant properties (discussed below) at an equal or higher value. In addition to the physical characteristics of the file, any associated metadata and documentation (either embedded or stored separately) should also be preserved and maintained.