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Guidance for Donors, Dealers, and Archival Repositories

2.1.3 Communication

1 Leave a comment on paragraph 1 0 Surveys and other pre-acquisition strategies can be supplemented by conversation with donors about their past and present computing environments. Any information that repository staff can learn about a donor’s computing habits, including the environmental conditions under which computer media have been stored in the past, will help them contextualize and preserve the digital materials.

2 Leave a comment on paragraph 2 0 Donors and dealers should ask about a repository’s readiness to receive and store digital media and files, strategies for long-term stewardship of digital material, and policies regarding privacy, capture and storage methods, and security. If a donor relies on technical specialists to manage digital files, it might be helpful to involve that person or team in the collection review process. Guidelines describing how to handle and describe digital items prior to offering the materials for gift or purchase can help all parties anticipate problems and formulate solutions well in advance of the actual transfer of materials. Similarly, communication between repository staff and donors about the technical nature and extent of the digital materials in a prospective acquisition, as well as issues of privacy and confidentiality, access and restrictions, and expectations regarding capture and transfer, can forestall potential processing difficulties, ultimately enabling repositories to serve as better stewards of born-digital content.

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Source: https://mcpress.media-commons.org/borndigital/initial-collection-review/preliminary-assessment-of-digital-media-and-files/communication/