Importance of digital archiving

21st century is aptly called the digital world. Vast majority of the new created materials or information are all digital. As a writer types his thoughts into the digital format, a digital book published which is sold and circulated digitally. Our everyday newspaper is slowly transforming into a epaper medium. Even our personal photos are shot, preserved and circulated digitally over the internet. With digital data and digital information swarming into our everyday life, the biggest challenge today is to maintain these digital objects.

The belief that digital objects can be managed with the same methodologies developed over the years for physical objects is misconstrued. While digital objects are easier to copy, transfer and re-package, they present new risks and challenges, and are not inherently easier to preserve, or give access to, over the long term.
"Digital archiving" is defined as the long-term storage, preservation and access to information that is "born digital" (created and disseminated primarily in electronic form) or for which the digital version is considered to be the primary archive. The concept of digital archiving, digital document solutions and digital publishing solutions are gaining lot of momentum in this digital age, where litigation issues and confirming to industry standards are very critical.

Challenges and issues regarding the long-term viability of and access to digital collections are common to all collecting domains. In doing so, the wider society benefits by being assured that digital records:
• are preserved and protected
• are accessible over the long term
• hold governments and organizations accountable
• meet legal obligations relating to the records.