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Keeping Emulation Environments Portable

Project description


Digital libraries and technology-enhanced learning
KEEP creates portable emulators enabling access to and use of digital objects stored on outdated media. The technology is being tested on early computer games.

KEEP is developing an Emulation Access Platform enabling the accurate rendering of objects produced on obsolete machines, so that they can be securely accessed in the long term. The project is thus addressing the problems related to transferring digital objects stored on outdated computer media (such as floppy discs) to current storage devices in order to reduce the risk of data loss resulting from technical obsolescence.

The KEEP emulation tools will be flexible enough to handle both static and dynamic digital objects designed for a wide variety of computer systems: text, sound, and image files; multimedia documents, websites, databases, videogames etc.

Research involves the specification of file formats and the production of transfer tools exploited within the framework, and the consideration of possible legal and technical issues.

Being aware of the fact that emulation software itself is prone to digital obsolescence, the KEEP consortium plans to create a portable platform that can be run on any possible device and be implemented to future computer systems. The emulation framework will also be distributed as open-source software so that the emulation community as a whole can contribute to its further development.

In addition to producing a software package, the project will improve understanding about how to integrate emulation-based solutions with an operational electronic deposit system. Existing metadata models will be researched and guidelines will be developed for mapping digital objects to emulated manifestations. Through this work, KEEP aims at creating a foundation for the next generation of permanent access strategies based on emulation.

Although primarily aimed at stakeholders in cultural heritage, such as memory institutions and (computer games) museums, the Emulation Access Platform should also be able to serve the needs of a wider range of organisations and individuals.

Intermediate Results

  • During the first two years, the project team has undertaken research into media carriers and available transfer tools, and into the state-of-the-art in emulation. Also, a user requirements analysis was carried out in the National libraries of France, Germany and the Netherlands, and a design has been formulated for creating flexible, user-friendly emulation services, media carriers and media transfer tools. 
  • Furthermore, an investigation was carried out into the potential legal issues arising when copying information from original data carriers, and a study about metadata standards and approaches in Europe has been produced.

KEEP (Keeping Emulation Environments Portable) will develop an Emulation Access Platform to enable accurate rendering of both static and dynamic digital objects: text, sound, and image files; multimedia documents, websites, databases, videogames etc. The overall aim of the project is to facilitate universal access to our cultural heritage by developing flexible tools for accessing and storing a wide range of digital objects.
The very success of computing technology, where machines are rapidly superseded, has created a serious and growing challenge of how to preserve access to digital material produced on obsolete machines. Cultural heritage organisations are particularly sensitive to the threat of major data loss resulting from technical obsolescence. KEEP will develop an Emulation Access Platform to enable the accurate rendering of these objects, designed for a wide variety of computer systems, so that they can be securely accessed in the long term.
KEEP will address the problems of transferring digital objects stored on outdated computer media such as floppy discs onto current storage devices. This will involve the specification of file formats and the production of transfer tools exploited within a framework, and taking into account possible legal and technical issues. KEEP will address all aspects ranging from safeguarding the original bits from the carrier to offering online services to end-users via a highly portable emulation framework running on any possible device. In addition to producing a software package, the project will deliver understanding about how to integrate emulation-based solutions with an operational electronic deposit system. Existing metadata models will be researched and guidelines will be developed for mapping digital objects to emulated manifestations. Overall, KEEP will create the foundation for the next generation of permanent access strategies based on emulation.
Although primarily aimed at those involved in Cultural Heritage, suc

Fields of science

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Call for proposal

FP7-ICT-2007-3
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

CP - Collaborative project (generic)

Coordinator

BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE DE FRANCE
Address
Quai francois mauriac 11
75013 Paris
France

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Activity type
Research Organisations
projects.administrative_contact
Elisabeth Freyre (Ms.)
Links
EU contribution
€ 242 720,00

Participants (8)

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Last update: 20 April 2017
Record number: 89496

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