Digital Preservation Policy
Grand Valley State University is committed to the long-term preservation of digital materials collected by the University Libraries. GVSU defines digital preservation as a series of managed activities necessary to ensure continued access to digital materials for as long as necessary. This work is an outgrowth of GVSU's dedication to providing students, faculty, staff, and scholars at-large with access to resources to enrich their teaching, learning, scholarly, creative, and administrative activities. GVSU Libraries considers digital preservation an essential investment in its broader work of collection building and preservation of its institutional history.
Priority for digital preservation services will be given to materials acquired or created by Special Collections & University Archives and ScholarWorks@GVSU. As resources permit and the University or Libraries administration mandate, digital preservation services may be extended to support other partners, projects or initiatives. GVSU Libraries endeavors at a minimum to preserve access to any donated, acquired, or created digital materials in their original file formats. The Libraries will then make a "good-faith effort" (but cannot guarantee) to provide on-going systematic access to those same digital materials in more preferred or widely supported file formats.
GVSU Libraries will make every effort to ensure that preserved digital collections are discoverable, but not all preserved resources will necessarily be available immediately or available online. There may be cases where some or all information related to digital material may be restricted/redacted, embargoed, or have other special rights-driven requirements for access. Finally, the work of preserving any given digital content at the present moment does not necessarily guarantee on-going future access -- something altogether dependent upon unanticipated changes in technologies, their availability, as well as policies on disposition.