PEVIAR

Abstract

Even decades after the advent of computer technology, preserving information in digital archives remains a challenging task. Technological progress on all levels calls for migration as an essential component of any digital archive. Migration, however, is not only expensive, but also makes it difficult to ensure the authenticity of digital documents. The University of Basel's Imaging and Media Lab has developed PEVIAR (Permanent Visual Archive), an archiving solution addressing one of the fundamental challenges of digital archiving, migration, and introducing the notion of digital originals . Essentially, digital documents are inseparably bound to a migration-free medium, thereby overcoming the transient nature of today's state-of-the-art storage systems.