Archive-It

        Archive-It is a web application that allows partners to collect, catalog, manage, access, search, and archive their institution's digital data collections. Archive-It was launched in 2006 and is a subscription service that provides archives with the ability to build and preserve digital collections. The Archive-It application is a division of the Internet Archive which is the world's largest non-profit public web archive that has been around since 1996. The Internet Archive seeks to provide the accessibility of data from the internet by permanently storing digital content for any one to view at any time.
   
       Archive-It can be used to archive any digital content to allow organizations to create collections to preserve the history of their institutions, archive materials that are no longer offered in print form, keep records to meet university retention polices, collect social media sites, gather web content that enhances other digital or physical holdings, and to harvest online art ephemera. The features of the Archive-It application provide curator controls to apply Dublin Core metadata standards, downloadable reports to review the collection, and automated Quality Assurance Tools. The specific types of digital content that can be archived through this application are html, images, video, audio, PDF, social networking sites, blogs, online newspapers and most other web content. The archived collection is copied and stored at the Internet Archive's data centers and can be downloaded or shipped to the institution.

Internet Archive. (2015). Archive-It Brochure. Retrieved form https://archive-it.org/static/files/archiveit_brochure.pdf. 

             Retrieved from http://anvilacademic.org/announcing-partnership-with-internet-archive-archive-it-service/

OpenWayBack

           OpenWayBack is a software that members of the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC) are currently maintaining. The software allows for web archives to play back or be able to view archived Web sites in the archives user's browser. Archives worldwide use this software to be able to allow their users to view content of Web sites. The IIPC members are currently working to create a new open source version of the OpenWayBack software to better address the constantly changing needs of archives and users. By making the software open sourced more archives and users will be able to obtain the software with ease.

       The OpenWayBack software has its own IIPC GitHub homepage where information is offered on developments of the software, specifications of the software, and list other tools that help digital content become archived. The OpenWayBack Wiki provides directions for installation, upgrading. and using the software. There is documentation on building management and technical overview. The site also has an page to track any current issues that users are having with the software. There are ten members of the team that does work on the OpenWayBack software by writing code, testing functions, and submitting patches and suggestions.

International Internet Preservation. (2015). OpenWayBack. Retrieved from http://netpreserve.org/openwayback,

Retrieved from http://netpreserve.org/openwayback

Optical Storage

          Optical Storage is another methods that archives are using to store their digital materials for long term storage. Encyclopedia Britannica defines optical storage as a storage medium that uses lasers to record and retrieve digital content. Optical storage works when a laser bean encodes digital data onto an optical disk on the surface of the disk that has tiny pits arranged in concentric tracks. To read the digital data of the disks a lower powered laser scanner is used to read the pits on the disks surface by the variation of intensity of the reflected light from the pits that is being converted into electric signals.

Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/optical-storage

         The different types of optical storage are CDs, DVDs, and Blue-ray Discs, The standard CD holds around seven hundred megabytes of digital data while a DVD can hold about 4.7 gigabytes (which is the same as 4700 megabytes) of digital data because it can be recorded on both sides of the disc. There are different variations of CDs and DVDs based on their ability to be rewritten. If a CD or DVD cannot be written over it is called a CD-ROM and DVD-ROM. CD-RW and DVD-RWs may be written over multiple times while a CD-R and DVD-R may only be written over once. The Blue-ray disk allows for a higher recording density to hold more digital data because of its blue-laser technology (Optical Storage, Miller School of Medicine University of Miami, 2015).

Britannica, E. (2015, September 11). Optical Storage. Retrieved from Encyclopedia Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/topic/optical-storage
Miami, M. S. (2008). Optical Storage. Retrieved from Miller School of Medicine University of Miami: http://it.med.miami.edu/x980.xml

Magnetic Tape

         Magnetic tape is a tool used to store digital data for a long period of time. A tape drive is used to write or read data being stored on magnetic tape. As of May 2014, Sony has developed magnetic tape that can hold 185 TB of data. Magnetic tapes have to be stored in low temperature and humidity environment. A benefit of magnetic tape is that it does not have to be powered to keep storing the digital content.  The amount of data that can be stored by magnetic tape and its durability are factors that make it a tool that is appealing to a lot of collecting institutions. Deciding on what tools to use to store data is essential in digital archiving and important factors to consider in these tools are durability and access.
 
         While hard disk drives allow for continuous access because they are constantly running and connected to the system, magnetic tape is more like a physical copy. Magnetic tape has a longer shelf life because it is not a running piece of technology so there is no worry of heat damage. Magnetic tape requires a tape drive to read or write data, so there would be some processing time when accessing the content. However, magnetic tape is much more durable than hard disk drives and is the better choice because of that for long term storage.

Coughlin, T. (2014, June 29). Keeping Data For A Long Time. Forbes Magazine .

Sony. (2014, April 30). Corporate Info. Retrieved from Sony: http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/News/Press/201404/14-044E/index.html

Retrieved from http://www.gizmag.com/sony-185-tb-magnetic-tape-storage/31910/

Hard Disk Drives

Find Article Here

             When collecting digital content, it is essential to decide how you are going to store the data. There are many available options such as hard disk drives as suggested by Tom Coughlin in Forbes Magazine. Hard disk drives are recommended because they can be continually connected to the storage network to allow for the information to be easily retrievable. Hard disk drives allow for digital collections to store more content in their collections. When considering the hard ware you will need to store your digital data it is important to consider how much data you will have and how it can be accessed. Using a hard disk drive is efficient for a collection that is large and needs to be rapidly accessible.
 
             The pros of hard disk drives are mass storage and how they can be connected to the network at all times to allow for all the information to be accessible all of the time. Another benefit of using hard disk drives is how they can be combined with flash memory to enhance the overall system performance. However, the cons of using a hard disk drive is that they do wear out between three to five years. Because the device is continuously running, decay is caused by thermal erasure. According to Coughlin's article a open source software and commodity component company, BlackBlaze, created a 180 TB hard disk drive system for $9, 300 which breaks down to $51.67 per TB and 5 cents per GB.

Coughlin, T. (2014, June 29). Keeping Data For A Long Time. Forbes Magazine .

"Hard drive-en" by I, Surachit. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hard_drive-en.svg#/media/File:Hard_drive-en.svg