Te Kaupapahere Pupuri Matihiko

Digital storage policy

How and where digital information and records are stored affects their viability over time. This Policy outlines principles or requirements for three different types of digital storage required by Archives New Zealand, Te Rua Mahara o Te Kāwanatanga.

Types of storage

Digital preservation storage – digital storage for long term preservation

Access storage – digital storage where access copies and access derivatives are kept

Business storage – digital storage for business purposes

The policy is divided into three parts and covers:

• digital preservation storage

• digital access storage

• digital business storage.

The policy does not cover storage hardware procurement, installation or normal hardware maintenance activities.

This part of the Digital Storage Policy deals specifically with the storage of born-digital information, records and data of archival value (i.e., digital public archives) that are transferred or deposited to the control of the Chief Archivist.

In association with the Digital Preservation Statement (PDF 339 KB), this is a high-level acknowledgement of Archives New Zealand’s responsibilities over time to digital public archives regardless of format, storage cost and type. It affirms Archives New Zealand’s commitment to ensure that the digital public archives in its care are actively managed and stored in a way that reflects their status as an asset and taonga for present and future generations.

Archives New Zealand has a statutory responsibility to acquire, preserve and manage public archives and ensure accessibility to their content now and into the future [1]. This obligation should be supported by any contractual, jurisdictional or funding arrangements that may be part of any current and future digital preservation storage decisions.

Storage and storage management is a crucial pre-requisite for active digital preservation, which is not only about storing born-digital information and records but also about undertaking preservation measures to maintain access to content in obsolete formats in the future.

Digital preservation is defined by the Digital Preservation Coalition as “the series of managed activities necessary to ensure continued access to digital materials for as long as necessary” [2]. The principles for digital preservation storage are based on international best practice [3]. See Appendix A for a list of these principles and whether they are mandatory or desirable for digital preservation storage.

This part of the Digital Storage Policy deals specifically with the storage of digitised copies of physical archives held by Archives New Zealand, created in-house or by a third-party provider.

The use of the term ‘access’ does not define who may or may not access the digital content. Such restrictions are governed by legislation and existing Archives New Zealand policies. Storage for access prioritises the user experience through speed and capacity. See Appendix A for a list of principles and whether they are mandatory or desirable for access storage.

This part of the Policy deals specifically with the storage of digital information and records created and maintained for Archives New Zealand’s internal business purposes.

Archives New Zealand’s digital information and records must be created and maintained according to the requirements of the Public Records Act 2005 and the principles of the Information and Records Management Standard (16/S1). See Appendix A for a list of these principles and whether they are mandatory or desirable for business storage.

Archives New Zealand:

• uses international standards and best practice to meet its digital preservation, access and business storage responsibilities

• acknowledges information security, privacy, Māori data and cultural considerations

• recognises Te Tiriti o Waitangi (Treaty of Waitangi) and acts in accordance with its principles and obligations and with Aratohu Ahurea Tikanga (PDF 5.5 MB) cultural protocols

• maintains an exit strategy from any technical storage solutions/systems

• keeps any technical solutions/systems updated

• ensures that technology and resources have minimal constraint on decisions about the storage of digital public archives

• commits to the full range of digital preservation storage requirements over time, including working for a suitable and sustainable legal and economic environment.

This means:

• Digital public archives and their intellectual content are easily available for the people of New Zealand and the rest of the world to consult, subject to any lawful restrictions.

• There is no loss of, or damage to, digital public archives once accepted into the custody of Archives New Zealand.

The full appendix is available in the ANZ Digital Storage Policy document below.

1. Public Records Act 2005 sections 3(c)(ii), 3(f) and 11(c), New Zealand Legislation

2. “What is Digital Preservation?”, Digital Preservation Coalition

3. “An overview of the Digital Preservation Storage Criteria and Usage Guide”, OSF, 2019 “Core Trustworthy Data Repositories Extended Guidance v.1.1”, Core Trust Seal, 2018