Can you imagine a world without Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey? Beethoven's Ninth Symphony? Twain's Huckleberry Finn? Van Gogh's Irises? Books and letters, photographs and drawings, music and movies are windows on history and culture. They inform and entertain us, aid in understanding the past and serve as a basis for future scholarship and creativity. Such works of authorship have remained available over centuries thanks to the preservation efforts of libraries, archives and museums. But now, many books, letters, photographs and other works are born digital and the Internet has fostered new forms of authorship like blogs and personal web pages. Unfortunately, many digital works disappear every day. They are removed, replaced or superseded and are thus forever lost to future generations.
展开▼
