Discussion of the likely impacts of climate change on archives is significantly deficient in the archival profession. Archives hold rare and unique materials that are irreplaceable and institutional adaptation to climate change is critical to the survival of these resources. The earliest effects of climate change are likely to be increased weather events that threaten the physical safety of holdings. Hurricanes, floods, and fires pose particular risks to archives due to potential damage to buildings as well as from limitations of local infrastructure to rapidly respond to disasters. Disaster preparedness for archives needs to include planning responses to a wide variety of situations that threaten holdings. As societies begin to adapt to climate change, archivists should consider how values of sustainability and resiliency might inform archival practice.
In the world of environmental regulation, records are the foundation on which all further regulatory action takes place. From permits that give industry permission to pollute in the name of economic activity, to annual production reports documenting how much fossil fuel is taken out of the ground, notices of violation issued by regulators, to complaints filed by citizens noticing contaminants in their water supply, recordkeeping is fundamental to regulation. Even as records are critical to understanding and contextualizing environmental problems, accessing and interpreting this information is an exceptionally difficult experience. This article will consider the regulatory recordkeeping context of hydraulic fracturing (fracking) in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, the three most productive states in the Marcellus/Utica shale formation.
Reviews however, the editors missed an opportunity to counterbalance the excellent introductory chapters with an epilogue. Digital Preservation Metadata for Practitioners is a practical guide to selecting, using, and managing metadata vital to the long-term preservation of digital objects. In the past thirteen years since the Data Dictionary was first released, PREMIS has become the de facto standard for preservation metadata, thanks in large part to the work of the editors of this book. PREMIS is a resilient standard that has grown and adopted to changing practices and challenges in the digital preservation field and that remains connected to its community of practice. Preservation metadata can be as unique as the content it describes, and Dappert, Guenther, Peyrard-in collaboration with their knowledgeable contributors-do an excellent job addressing the nuance in an approachable and pragmatic fashion.
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