Archiving Processes

As you start to consider the archiving process, keep in mind the importance of properly applying metadata to your images and video. This will be critical as time goes on to ensure that the data remains viable, not just from a physical standpoint in that the data is readable in the future, but also from a standpoint of knowing what the data actually is. This is an underlying requirement for the archival process.

Taking Lessons from the National Archives

The National Archives is run by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which has an initiative called the Electronics Records Archive (ERA) program. This program is designed “to extend its mission to include the electronic records of the U.S. Government; that is, to preserve and provide long-term access to uniquely valuable electronic Federal, Presidential, and Congressional records.” As you might imagine, this is one dandy of a task and NARA had to develop a process to achieve it.