Permanent link to current and past versions of the IDEALS Digital Preservation Policy
See also our Digital Preservation Support Policy which defines the categories of preservation support.
Preservation, as it applies to library and archives material, can be defined as: "all managerial and financial considerations including storage and accommodation, provision, staffing levels, policies, techniques and methods involved in preserving library and archive materials and the information contained therein." (Mirjam M. Foot, 'Building Blocks for a Preservation Policy.' London: The National Preservation Office, 2001).
Within the context of an institutional repository, these combined activities allow the University to better ensure access to digital scholarly content for as long as possible by whoever needs it. Committed to building collections of digital resources and maintaining them for use by students, faculty, scholars, and the public long into the future, the University of Illinois assumes a long term stewardship obligation for the content within the institutional repository, the Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship (IDEALS).
The IDEALS Digital Preservation Policy outlines this program's plan to support sustainable access to deposited content for the foreseeable future. This policy is subject to change as new and emerging technologies impact our ability to preserve deposited content. However, the development of a reliable digital archive that adheres to and remains compliant with changing standards and best practices remains the best opportunity for IDEALS' success as a repository for the research and scholarship of the University of Illinois.
The IDEALS mandate for ensuring the preservation of deposited digital content stems from three primary areas of responsibility:
IDEALS' objectives are to collect, preserve, and maintain access to significant components of the University's scholarly and research output. It is responsible for preserving, managing, and providing access to locally developed and deposited digital research and scholarship. In particular, it is responsible for finished research and scholarly content and associated supporting documentation and data.
IDEALS shall:
The IDEALS initiative shall adhere to the following operating principles:
Libraries and archives have long been entrusted with ensuring access to scholarly content. As a joint program operated between the University Library, the Office of the CIO, and CITES on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, the IDEALS initiative seeks to bridge two very different operational models. Yet, the primary objective remains the same - to preserve and provide access to digital research and scholarship.
Both the University Library and Office of the CIO assume joint responsibility for the long-term preservation of and access to deposited content. The IDEALS initiative is also committed to collaborating with other institutions and organizations to further technological and operational research to better serve the collective desire to digital content.
The collection will focus on deposits of digital research and scholarship by faculty, students and staff of the University of Illinois. Contributors may include non-affiliated scholars if they are co-authoring with University of Illinois authors or are affiliated closely with the University, e.g., are emeritus professors, Survey personnel, or hold honorary appointments. See the IDEALS Collection policy for more information.
Digital preservation management activities in the IDEALS initiative include:
In addition to its own internal digital preservation measures, IDEALS works with the UIUC Library's Medusa digital preservation service, to include:
By default all materials deposited into IDEALS are available to any user with internet access. However in some cases, access restrictions may be necessary to comply with intellectual property or copyright agreements (i.e. publisher embargoes). The expectation is that materials accepted for deposit will be renderable (i.e. human viewable) according to the limitations and opportunities of current technologies deployed by IDEALS. This means there may be some format types (usually obsolete or obscure) that will not be fully renderable and when this is the case, IDEALS will make such limitations known in advance whenever possible. Use of materials is limited by whatever copyright notice has been provided. In most cases, authors reserve all rights and material can only be used under fair use provisions. See the Access and Use Policy for more information.