Contents and front matter

A Report of the Technology Assessment Advisory Committee to the Commission on Preservation and Access

Committee Preface

This report completes a cycle of reports on technological developments, trends and issues pertaining to the preservation copies of print, film, analog non-print and digital materials initiated by the Technology Assessment Advisory Committee (TAAC) to the Commission on Preservation and Access. The focus of the prior reports was the changing technologies, options and interrelationships of preservation, namely micrographics and digital imaging and storage. The most recent report went beyond the preservation of our disintegrating print collection to explore the growing and likewise alarming implications of the relatively short life cycle of electronic publications, records and files as well as non-print analog materials.

This study focuses on one aspect of another essential objective of the Commission, namely, ready and universal access to the materials that are being preserved for posterity and for which the originals are rapidly becoming inaccessible.

The developing and expanding regional, national and global digital highways reflect the changing combination of communications and processing technologies. They are providing remote access to digitally stored materials and promise to provide relatively universal, convenient, cost effective and prompt access on a scale previously unrealizable. This will have a profound impact on the electronic surrogates of print and film materials, including preservation copy. Indeed, if appropriate mechanisms and collaborative efforts are established, preservation surrogates of materials will become more readily and universally accessible than either print originals or microform copies.

The author has faced a very daunting task in providing a comprehensive, yet succinct and readable, overview of a combination of technologies. We are indebted to our fellow TAAC member and principal author, Douglas van Houweling, for undertaking this ambitious task and executing it with such clarity and understanding. I also want to express appreciation to the other members of TAAC and Doug’s colleagues at the University of Michigan for their comments and contributions.

Committee members are: (Chair) Rowland C. W. Brown, Consultant; Douglas van Houweling, Vice Provost for Information Technology, University of Michigan; Michael Lesk, Division Manager, Computer Science Research, Bellcore; Peter Lyman, Librarian and Dean, University of Southern California; M. Stuart Lynn, Vice President, /Information Technologies, Cornell University; Robert Spinrad, Vice President, Technology Analysis and Development, Xerox Corporation; and Robert L. Street, Vice Provost and Dean of Libraries Information Resources, Stanford University.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Overall structure of the paper

Pace of change

Technology Primer

Digitization

Analog circuits and modems vs digital circuits

Line speeds

Circuit switching vs packet switching

Types of packet networks

Protocol standards

Applications

Figure 1

Support services

Integrity, security, and privacy

Current Status

Technology

Organization

What We Have Learned

Requirements

Rapid growth underway

The need for a broadly cooperative effort

The future

Policy Issues

Access

Appropriate use

Funding

Governance

Security

Privacy and free speech

Potential Impact

The document life cycle

Preservation

Universities as a human knowledge repository

Broad knowledge access

The university

Conclusion

Appendix–Brief History

Introduction

ARPANet

CSNET

BITNET

NSFNET

Library networks

Notes

Reports issued by the Commission on Preservation and Access are intended to stimulate thought and discussion. They do not necessarily reflect the views of Commission members.

Additional copies are available from the above address for $15.00. Orders must be prepaid, with checks made payable to “The Commission on Preservation and Access,” with payment in U.S. funds.

This paper has been submitted to the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources.

COPYRIGHT 1993 by the Commission on Preservation and Access. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transcribed in any form without permission of the publisher. Requests for reproduction for noncommercial purposes, including educational advancement, private study, or research will be granted. Full credit must be given to the author(s) and The Commission on Preservation and Access.