When I read this week’s readings, I found The Theory and Craft of Digital Preservation deeply inspiring. One of the most impactful sections for me was the “Sixteen Guiding Digital Preservation Axioms,” which provide essential guidance for sustaining digital preservation efforts. These axioms highlight key principles and practices for managing digital content effectively.

First, software is important, but it cannot serve as preservation in itself. Data must be extracted from software to ensure its longevity. Institutions play a crucial role in enabling preservation by committing resources and fostering collaborative efforts. Starting small and implementing simple, actionable steps is often the most effective approach.

Digital preservation is an ongoing effort that requires the dedication of people and resources. Hoarding data does not equate to preservation; instead, attention must be paid to collection development, arrangement, description, and access strategies. Backing up data is not the same as digital preservation. Additionally, the boundaries of digital objects are often ambiguous, making it challenging to ensure complete consistency in the transmission and maintenance of files. Digital collections are dynamic, constantly evolving and expanding, which makes defining their boundaries difficult.

The success of digital preservation lies in the details. To mitigate risks and potential losses, digital preservation must be treated as an urgent priority. For individuals, this could begin with something as simple as creating a copy of their files. Digital media should maintain a direct and logical relationship with digital collections, and preservation efforts should embrace various types of materials. It is essential to think futuristically, developing secure and adaptable formats and methods for preservation.

From these 16 axioms, I understand that digital preservation is an ongoing, never-ending process. Digitized and born-digital content are fundamentally different and require distinct strategies. Digital preservation involves more than merely copying data; it demands higher-quality digital collections, complete with proper arrangement and descriptive metadata. These collections must be safe, accessible, and efficiently stored.

Lastly, while it is critical to pay attention to the details—such as avoiding dependence on software—it is equally important to embrace large-scale processing to improve efficiency. By balancing detailed care with scalability, we can ensure that digital preservation is both effective and sustainable.

For me, the most important focus is Art Collection. For art institutions, the purpose of digital collections goes beyond simply creating digital records of artworks—it is more about curating. Clearly, piling all artworks onto a website is not feasible. Instead, the meaning conveyed by the collections should become the central focus of preservation efforts. When a project is developed around a clear focal point, more resources and time can be allocated to that focus.

I believe that preserving everything in meticulous detail is not advisable for digital collections. Displaying all content on a website can create confusion for viewers to some extent. Additionally, what makes artworks unique is that their meanings are not as immediately understandable as a piece of history or a historical event might be. Art requires more textual descriptions to help viewers understand its underlying significance. Therefore, simply collecting images without sufficient textual support is not practical for digital art collections.

When working on our group’s art project, I gained new insights. I became acutely aware that art projects must be accessible through widely available platforms and formats. For instance, using a web-based interface ensures that a global audience can easily access the content. Usability often takes priority over long-term preservation, which means decisions favor intuitive design and compatibility with current technologies. Furthermore, the project must be designed as a sustainable, forward-looking initiative, taking into account how future audiences will engage with it. This includes ensuring that data formats and platforms do not become obsolete and that metadata supports long-term discovery and usability.

However, I felt a lot of pressure when addressing these needs. First, the project was created by a four-person team, and it is unclear who will take responsibility for maintaining and updating it after the course ends. Additionally, digital projects inevitably involve financial considerations. For example, web interface domain names require annual fees, and interactive web plugins often come with additional costs. Deciding who will bear the costs of maintaining digital preservation becomes a critical factor in ensuring the ongoing viability of the project.

Therefore, I believe the best path for digital projects is collaboration with large art institutions. Projects with broad public appeal may secure funding through partnerships focused on public engagement or grants, while highly specialized projects may rely on academic institutions or targeted research funding.