What is the primary goal of digital archiving?

The primary goal of digital archiving is to preserve digital materials for long-term access and use. This involves ensuring that the digital resources remain accessible, usable, and authentic over time, despite the rapid evolution of technology and potential obsolescence of formats and platforms.

Digital archiving encompasses a wide range of practices, such as the careful selection of materials for preservation, the use of metadata to foster discoverability, implementing appropriate storage solutions, and developing strategies for migration and emulation to counteract obsolescence. By focusing on long-term preservation, digital archives ensure that valuable information and cultural heritage remain available for future generations.

While creating digital copies of physical materials is an important component of the digitization process, it is not the ultimate aim of digital archiving. Enhancing visual quality may improve the user experience but does not address the fundamental need for preservation. Promoting digital literacy is valuable for users but is more of a complementary goal rather than the primary objective of digital archiving.