Digital archiving and preservation on a budget

In today’s fast-paced, information-rich world, organizations are producing massive amounts of digital records every day. Among them are priceless materials of legal, historical, cultural, research, multimedia, and grassroots initiatives that capture the very essence of an institution’s story. Often, these treasures exist nowhere else and are trapped on aging storage media, silently edging toward obsolescence. Without intervention, they are at risk of disappearing forever.

While digital archiving and preservation can be costly initiatives for many organizations, the reality is that with smart planning, collaboration, and the right free tools, any organization can build a sustainable preservation strategy on a budget.

Let’s now explore budget-friendly ways in which organisations can embark on or strengthen their digital archiving and preservation journey.

1) Start with a plan – it is free

Any digital preservation strategy should begin with a clear, written policy. This helps to align priorities and take informed action. A basic digital archiving framework will help you:

• Define your goals based on current resources
• Assess current and potential risks
• Identify which content needs to be preserved based on value or risk
• Identify who will be responsible for managing it
• Outline guidelines to be adhered to by everyone across the organisation

To assess your organisation's current standing and identify opportunities for growth over time, utilise free resources such as the NDSA Levels of Digital Preservation for guidance.

2) Free and open-source tools

Before we list various tools that can be used, it’s essential to understand the different processes involved in digital archiving and preservation to determine which tools are suitable for each step. 

• Appraisal & Selection: Knowing what will be preserved is key. With this, you can use Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to log a list of all items to be selected for preservation in your organisation.
• Digitisation: Although professional digitisation equipment can be costly, it leaves many organisations with important content locked in outdated or inaccessible formats. A practical solution would be to collaborate with other institutions such as university libraries and national archives/libraries, as well as museums and specialised libraries that already have digitisation facilities to assist in temporarily using their equipment to carry out the work. Additionally, your organisation can opt for alternative digitisation equipment such as digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) camera technologies to support your initiatives.
• Organisation: another important aspect in digital archiving is file organisation and management. For this, you can use free tools such as Tropy or Adobe Bridge. Bridge allows users to organize files, such as photos, videos, and other media files; provides metadata management and batch renaming; and enables custom workflows, all to ensure easy browsing and retrieval of files.
• Integrity Checks: Once you have selected your content, you can package it using archival standards such as BagIt or fixity to ensure that the integrity of your digital files is protected with a checksum. 
• Access & Sharing: To provide access to your valuable resources online, you can look into free and open-source digital library software such as Greenstone and Omeka, among others.

3) Store affordably, but safely

To safeguard your digital assets, you need storage capacity. While storage is one of the challenges often faced by many preservation institutions, there are various affordable physical storage solutions to adopt, such as hard drives. This can also be paired with cloud storage, such as Microsoft OneDrive.  Begin with what you currently have and expand with time. The main rule is to store at least 2-3 copies of your collections in different locations, e.g, cloud, hard drive, and on your computer or another physical drive.

4) Build skills without big bills

Hiring specialists or allocating funds for training in areas like digital preservation can be expensive for some organisations. Fortunately, there are many affordable or free options available, such as training on Novice to Know-How: Online Digital Preservation Training from the Digital Preservation Coalition. Additionally, tap into free webinars, online courses, and library books. Continuous practice and learning are invaluable. If your organisation faces a large digitisation workload but lacks staff, consider engaging interns or volunteers to support major projects.

In the end, your organisation’s story is a part of its identity, and tomorrow’s history depends on today’s action. Start small and preserve what matters by beginning with the irreplaceable or at-risk records, frequently used records, or material that defines your organisation’s heritage without breaking the bank.

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