Rice Research Repository: Preservation

Fondren Library is committed to ensuring long-term access to works housed in the Rice Research Repository (R-3):

1. All works submitted to R-3 are assigned a persistent identifier. R-3 uses the handle system to assign and resolve persistent identifiers for each digital item.
2. R-3 provides storage and long-term access to submitted works, the metadata, and the deposit license agreement.
3. R-3 will provide periodic data refreshment to new storage media and will provide fixity checks using proven checksum methods.
4. R-3 provides basic preservation of the files (bitstreams) and associated metadata as received. While R-3 accepts any file format, submission in a recommended file format is strongly encouraged in order to facilitate long-term preservation. See Recommended file formats for a list of preferred formats.

Fondren also participates in a geographically dispersed approach to digital preservation for long-term protection of digital assets stored in R-3:

• DuraCloud is a broker for distributed cloud storage offered by third-party vendors. It is used to replicate much of the repository content across multiple cloud storage providers. This approach provides backup for both public and hidden resources (master files such as tiffs, wav formats, etc.)

Digital preservation is an evolving area of research, with multiple architectures and technologies used to address issues of long-term digital preservation. We continue to stay abreast of developments in this area and follow best practices to ensure our assets are protected.