25. Data protection is built on the principles of system security and redundancy.

For
preservation programmes, redundancy must include securely stored backups designed
around the long-term maintenance of data rather than a cycle of overwriting old data with
new.

5.2.9 Maintaining accessibility

26. The goal of maintaining accessibility is to find cost-effective ways of guaranteeing access
whenever it is needed, both in the short-term and the long-term.
27. Standards are an important foundation for digital preservation, but many programmes
must find ways to preserve access to poorly standardised materials, in an environment of
changing standards.
28. Preservation action should not be delayed until a single digital preservation standard
appears.
29. Digital data is always dependent on some combination of software and hardware tools for
access, but the degree of dependency on specific tools determines the range of
preservation options.
30. It is reasonable for programmes to choose multiple strategies for preserving access,
especially to diverse collections. They should consider the potential benefits of
maintaining the original data streams of materials as well as any modified versions, as an
insurance against the failure of still uncertain strategies.
31. Strategies for preserving accessibility do not stand alone: they are supported by other
responsibilities, and many strategies can be combined to good effect.
32. Preservation programmes are often required to judge acceptable and unacceptable levels
of loss, in terms of items, elements, and user needs.

5.2.10 Management
33. Waiting for comprehensive, reliable solutions to appear before taking responsible action
will probably mean material is lost.
34. Preservation programmes require good management that consists largely of generic
management skills combined with enough knowledge of digital preservation issues to
make good decisions at the right time.
35. Digital preservation incorporates the assessment and management of risks.
36. programmes are usually faced with more material and more issues than they can cope
with, so they must set priorities.
37. The costs of preservation programmes are hard to estimate because they encompass so
much uncertainty, including evolving techniques, changing technologies and very long
timeframes. Costs may well be lower per unit of information than for non-digital
materials, but the amount of information to be managed in digital form is very large so
total costs are also likely to remain high, including set-up costs and significant recurrent
costs.
38. Preservation programmes may start as pilot projects but they eventually need to establish

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