Embracing the Gray of Digital Preservation

Digital preservation is not a destination, but an on-going journey. As such, we need to take steps along that journey, no matter how imperfect, to at least attempt to preserve those objects entrusted to us. For too long we had been frozen on our journey at Ohio State, when confronted with born digital collections at scale; stuck in the binary of how do we describe these collections at the item level to ingest them into our existing digital perseveration repository, Digital Collections, or doing nothing at all. We had simply embraced the latter.

However, in the summer of 2021 we began to scheme the development of a lightweight, cloud-based digital preservation platform that could complement our existing digital preservation repo. One that would be based upon the archival principle of more product, less processing (MPLP). As we began to engage stakeholders, as well as architect, build and test the repository, we actually realized that this new repo was much more in alignment with our collecting and accessioning practices. We were essentially building a digital version of archival and special collections stacks. A digital preservation platform that contains minimally described objects that are tied to their finding aids, where they are discoverable by our users; while being stored in a secure space where only the curators can “wander” just like our secured stacks. Therefore, we have created a “gray” or “dim” repository, which is neither “light” (allows patron access) nor “dark” (essentially no access). Launched in January 2024, the Gray Digital Preservation Repository, is now our default repo for born digital content.

This poster will document the journey we have embarked upon, along with the workflow and tools, open source and proprietary, that we have used to build and sustain this new environment. While acknowledging the priviledge of our institution, we feel there are lessons learned from this journey that may benefit institutions of all sizes and resources.