The Nordic Model of Digital Archiving

Book excerpt: The Nordic Model of Digital Archiving explores the roots and strengths of Nordic digital archiving and proposes new directions to guide digital archivists in addressing the challenges posed by ever- changing digital technologies and the datafication of information and records. Digitization and born-digital records promise efficient and cost-effective solutions to everything from preservation of data to easy user access. However, digitization also poses challenges for archival practitioners worldwide. Bringing together contributions from practitioners and academics to offer a range of international case studies, this book offers practical solutions for archivists in terms of governance, technologies and processes. It highlights and analyses the cornerstones of the Nordic model of archiving: reliance on standards; powerful regulatory instruments -, especially in public sector archiving, including legislation; and collaboration between archivists and government agencies, and among different tiers of central and local government. While showcasing work in the Nordic region for the benefit of archivists and record keepers globally, this volume also challenges the limits of the Nordic model with insights drawn from international archival theory. The Nordic Model of Digital Archiving offers a new perspective on archiving that will be of interest to academics, researchers and postgraduate students of archiving, digital archives and records management.