Beyond one size fits all. A tiered model for digital preservation

Technological obsolescence is a well known phenomenon and organizations require enormous amounts of resources, both human and financial, to deal with this challenge. This issue becomes even more challenging for memory institutions which are dealing with a wide range of digital resources. In this paper we propose a tiered model for preserving digital content at memory institutions that is built on an assessment which considers three factors: resource type, archival responsibility, and level of projected preservability. This model allows institutions to assess and rank digital resources in terms of preservation needs and helps institutions to bundle preservation strategies accordingly. This model is simple to apply and flexible enough to be usable by a variety of memory institutions. Although we describe the way in which we have implemented the model at the University of Alberta Libraries, the model does not dictate the method of implementation or the specific preservation strategies to be employed.