Project description
Access to and preservation of cultural and scientific resources
The primary goal for PLANETS was to build practical services and tools to help ensure long-term access to digital cultural and scientific assets. The project delivered an integrated production environment for the management of digital information preservation, with a special focus on the needs of libraries and archives.
The PLANETS environment supports a number of key preservation functions through:
- the preservation planning tool PLATO and services that empower organisations to define, evaluate, and execute high-quality and cost-effective preservation plans
- methodologies, tools and services for the characterisation of digital objects that can automatically analyse digital objects and establish significant properties
- innovative solutions for performing preservation actions and to ensure rendering of the objects and keeping their properties available. In this context, work has been done on the archiving of relational databases, emulation and remote access to emulation services.
Integration and automation can be seen as the two prominent features of the Planets environment. The PLANETS Interoperability Framework integrates the deliverables into a downloadable 'click and install' software package. Within this package, there are role-based routines for administrators, preservation experts and business users, enabling organisations to improve decision-making about long term preservation, ensure long-term access to their valued digital content and control the costs of preservation actions.
European National Libraries and Archives are uniquely positioned, having the legal responsibility and the legislative framework to safeguard digital information and provide sustained access to digital cultural and scientific knowledge. Our limited ability to ensure that today¿s digital information will be accessible for future generations means they will see a gaping hole in their cultural and scientific record unless we act now. However, meeting the challenge of preserving access goes beyond the capabilities of any single institution.Planets brings together complementary expertise: leaders in the practical application of digital preservation technology and the provision of preservation services, as well as leading research institutes and technology vendors. Planets will develop:* Planning services that empower organisations to define, evaluate, and execute preservation plans* Methodologies, tools and services for Characterisation of digital objects* Innovative solutions for Preservation Actions* An Inter-operability Framework to seamlessly integrate tools and services in a distributed service network* A Test Bed to provide a consistent and coherent evidence-base for the objective evaluation of different protocols, tools, services and complete preservation plans.Planets will deliver a sustainable framework enabling long-term preservation of digital content, increasing Europe¿s ability to ensure long-term access to its cultural/scientific heritage. The project will enable organisations to improve decision-making about long term preservation, ensure long-term access to their valued digital content and control the costs of preservation actions through increased automation and scaleable infrastructure. Intensive Dissemination and Take-up activities will ensure the widest possible adoption of results in the user community as well as enabling commercial tool and service providers to compete in a new market place for differentiated preservation services.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
FP6-2005-IST-5
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
IP - Integrated ProjectCoordinator
LS23 7BQ Wetherby
United Kingdom