Written by Reiko Pleau
On World Digital Preservation Day, the Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre (NNMCC) joins the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC) and the global digital preservation community in asking the question central to this year’s theme: Why Preserve? For our community archives, preservation is fundamental to upholding our mission to honour, preserve, and share the history and heritage of Japanese Canadians and Japanese culture in Canada. Just like we carefully store physical documents in archival boxes, digital preservation helps us protect treasured digital records.
Our collections include some of the most vulnerable and valuable digital records of the community, such as first-person origin stories from Issei community members and their descendents, extensive digitized family photo collections, and important records preserving the institutional memory of community organizations like the Powell Street Festival. These materials, many of which are stored on at-risk carriers, are constantly threatened by media degradation. Discs get scratched, hard drives break, tapes get chewed, and servers can get damaged by flood, fire, power surges, cyberattacks, and other accidents. Time is also a threat. Hardware becomes obsolete and many storage formats won’t be readable in 10, maybe even 5 years. For instance, the average lifespan of optical discs (e.g., CDs and DVDs) is around 40 years[1][2], under optimal conditions (proper storage, climate control, etc.), and they were most popular in the 2000s. A hard drive purchased six years ago has only a 65% chance of working today[3]. We should also consider threats to our physical materials (by flood, fire, human error). If analogue records are damaged, it may be that their digital surrogate becomes the primary record. It’s important to actively preserve digitizations not only because of the investment we’ve put into digitizing our physical materials, but because they could preserve the information of the original in the case of its destruction. Beyond physical degradation, digital files also face an invisible threat called ‘bit rot’ (or data corruption). This is when individual bits of data are corrupted due to electrical interference or hardware faults, causing glitches and rendering files unreadable. Statistically, the more data you store, the more likely it is that some of it will degrade. Protecting our digital materials from media degradation, technological obsolescence, and corruption, is a critical, proactive step in safeguarding the integrity of the Japanese Canadian legacy for future generations.
The need for a strong digital preservation program is particularly urgent, especially when considering our oral history recordings. For instance, many existing recordings that were digitized years (or decades) ago were processed under previous standards and lower-quality equipment, and may require recapture before the original analog formats degrade beyond recovery. Addressing this quality issue is a priority. Equally important is the timely need to document the stories of our elders and other community members who are ready and willing to share their lived experiences. Many folks in our community have valuable stories they are interested in contributing to the archives, and they need our support to effectively capture and preserve them. Implementing a strong digital preservation program now allows us to safeguard these irreplaceable narratives and ensures that all future documentation efforts meet the highest standards available to us today, protecting the integrity and accessibility of these community records from the outset.
Our organization began its journey with digitization in 2010. Our first project involved scanning over 2000 photographs. At that time, given the resources available to us, we implemented the simple yet effective digital preservation strategy of maintaining multiple copies of each item to prevent loss. While current digital preservation practices have advanced since then, this foundational work by our predecessors was crucial in establishing our commitment to safeguarding our digital materials. In 2011, we launched our online database. Since then, we have been fortunate to receive grant-funded support to help us invest the time and resources necessary to digitize additional materials in the archives. As a result, the volume of digitizations is growing rapidly, and we are increasingly creating and receiving more born-digital materials (files without any analogue original, where the digital is the authentic source), so there is even more to preserve digitally. Currently, we have over 195,000 files of processed archival quality media on our server. However, when we include unprocessed files, digital materials stored on the cloud, and content residing on legacy carriers like CDs, DVDs, audio cassette tapes, VHS tapes, and floppy disks, the total amount of digital media in the archives’ custody is estimated to be over 30 terabytes!
The current phase of our grant-funded Heritage Hub project is focused on building the foundational infrastructure to manage this large and complex collection sustainably. This work began with extensive research and critical self-assessment. We have successfully completed a comprehensive inventory, creating a Digital Asset Register to accurately map and account for digital archival materials in our care. In the archives, we store documents, photographs, audio recordings and videos, also multiformat objects like E-books, websites, CAD designs, datasets and more.
This year we also undertook a thorough evaluation using the Digital Preservation Coalition’s Rapid Assessment Model (DPC RAM), a recognized industry framework, to objectively determine the current maturity of our preservation capabilities and define a strong, achievable roadmap for future growth. These preparatory steps ensure that subsequent preservation actions, such as implementing automated file integrity checks and migrating content to stable, future-proof formats, will be systematic and effective.
To ensure our strategy is informed by sector-wide best practices, we have been actively engaging in knowledge exchange. We are currently evaluating various digital preservation system solutions and drafting key institutional documents, including a new Digital Preservation Policy and Strategy. This process is inherently collaborative; we have consulted with peer organizations, such as the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC), the Japanese American National Museum (JANM), and Densho, to gain valuable insights into their operational systems and practices. We also believe in the importance of sharing the unique challenges we face in safeguarding digital materials, so that we can collectively work towards efficient solutions in the cultural heritage sector. By prioritizing strategic planning and building strong professional relationships across the cultural heritage sector, the NNMCC is establishing a robust and trustworthy system that will secure the digital memory of the Japanese Canadian community and ensure its enduring availability for public programs, research, and historical use.
The commitment to digital preservation isn’t just an institutional effort; it’s a shared community responsibility. As we continue developing our comprehensive digital preservation program, we also encourage community members to practice good “digital hygiene” for their own personal collections. Simple steps, like organizing files into clearly named folders, recording essential details such as dates, names, and places, and keeping multiple copies of important files, can greatly extend the lifespan and accessibility of your digital records. For those considering donating materials to the NNMCC archives in the future, these preparatory actions help ensure your memories are transferred efficiently and accurately.
We are excited about the progress we are making, and we invite you to explore some of our digitized collections that will benefit from improved digital preservation practices. For example, our Moving Image Collection, which features over 70 historical home movies on fragile 16mm, 8mm, and VHS tape formats, that have been digitized. These films offer an incredible glimpse into the personal and public lives of Japanese Canadians from the 1920s to the 2000s, showcasing resilience across generations on the West Coast, throughout Canada, and abroad.
If your institution is also establishing or refining its digital preservation program, and you would like to connect with our team to share insights or discuss challenges, please reach out to us at [email protected].
References
Iraci, Joe. “Longevity of Recordable CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays.” Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes 19/1. Revised 2019. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Conservation Institute, Government of Canada. https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/conservation-preservation-publications/canadian-conservation-institute-notes/longevity-recordable-cds-dvds.html.
Jarry, Jonathan. “Media Has an Expiration Date.” McGill University Office for Science and Society. May 31, 2024. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/technology-history-general-science/media-has-expiration-date.
The Digital FAQ. “How Long Do CDs, DVDs, and Tapes Last?” Accessed October 31, 2025. https://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media/longevity.htm.
[1] Joe Iraci, “Longevity of Recordable CDs, DVDs and Blu-rays,” Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) Notes 19/1 (Revised 2019), https://www.canada.ca/en/conservation-institute/services/conservation-preservation-publications/canadian-conservation-institute-notes/longevity-recordable-cds-dvds.html.
[2] “How Long Do CDs, DVDs, and Tapes Last?,” The Digital FAQ, accessed October 31, 2025, https://www.digitalfaq.com/guides/media/longevity.htm.
[3] Jonathan Jarry, “Media Has an Expiration Date,” McGill University Office for Science and Society, May 31, 2024, https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/technology-history-general-science/media-has-expiration-date.
