What is preservation and why do we need it?

preservation

noun
the activity of protecting something from loss or danger
the condition of being (well or ill) preserved
a process that saves organic substances from decay
an occurrence of improvement by virtue of preventing loss or injury or other change [syn: conservation]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.

Retrieved May 24, 2008, from dictionary.com

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(prĭ-zûrv')
v. pre·served, pre·serv·ing, pre·serves

v. tr.

1. To maintain in safety from injury, peril, or harm; protect.
2. To keep in perfect or unaltered condition; maintain unchanged.
3. To keep or maintain intact: tried to preserve family harmony.
   
4. To prepare (food) for future use, as by canning or salting.
5. To prevent (organic bodies) from decaying or spoiling.
6. To keep or protect (game or fish) for one's private hunting or fishing.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Retrieved May 24, 2008, from dictionary.com

One of the traits that distinguishes us from other species, other than the ability to communicate in writing, is our penchant for recording the minutiae of our daily lives to be passed on to our descendants, thereby, leaving something of ourselves for posterity. This need extends beyond the personal, however. Humanity would not be where it is today if not for the efforts of those who, during the course of history, have “sought to collect, preserve, and transmit the tangible and intangible products of our culture” (Zorich, 2007, para. 2).

Throughout the course of human history and development, libraries have played a pivotal role in the organization of, and access to, recorded information. The idea of preservation is inextricably linked to that role. Preservation is commonly understood to mean keeping the ravages of decay at bay. In a digital world, while the underlying meaning remains the same, the practicalities of it require a different approach. The paradox of both traditional and digital preservation is that nothing lasts forever and in the case of digital preservation in order to maintain long term access to digital materials, the process may be a continuous one.

Before the digital age, preservation was mostly about maintaining physical access to artifacts whether books, letters, paintings, posters, or whatever else was deemed worth passing on to future generations (see 1 and 2 under preserve above). The idea of preservation is a powerful one. Each one of us is a unique store of knowledge that cannot be passed on to others unless we do so through the oral tradition, as has been done in the past by many cultures, or leave some sort of accessible record in the form of images or words. However, recording of knowledge does not guarantee that it will survive through the years and that is where preservation comes in.

Why do we need preservation? Preservation is important because it perpetuates practical knowledge without the need to constantly reinvent the wheel and makes that knowledge transmittable to others. It is also important because it is a means of protecting and sharing the unique ideas of individuals , past and present, that may be the seeds of future inventions and thoughts that revolutionize the world.

to be continued . . . .

References

Zorich, D. M. (2007, July 2). Defining stewardship in the digital age. First Monday, 12(7). Retrieved March 30, 2008, from Library Literature & Information Science Full Text database.