Chris Rusbridge challenges some of the “truisms” of digital preservation in an easily readable and quite sensible article: “Excuse Me… Some Digital Preservation Fallacies?” (February 2006, Adriane, Issue 46)

1. Digital preservation is very expensive [because]
2. File formats become obsolete very rapidly [which means that]
3. Interventions must occur frequently, ensuring that continuing costs remain high.
4. Digital preservation repositories should have very long timescale aspirations,
5. ‘Internet-age’ expectations are such that the preserved object must be easily and instantly accessible in the format de jour, and
6. the preserved object must be faithful to the original in all respects.

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