However, preservation and security risks loom much larger in the world of digital objects than in that of older materials. There is no way yet to ensure the longevity of digital data for a decade, let alone centuries. In addition, computer files, while hardly vulnerable to physical theft, reside on computer systems that may be vulnerable to viruses, invasion by hackers, and inadvertent programming disasters. More problematic is the management of digital assets for long-term access. Because digital information does not reside on physical media or have its own independent physical existence, it is, in many ways, at much higher risk of loss or illegibility than are traditional resources.
Digital information depends on hardware and software to decode the bits and bytes.
It depends on metadata to identify its provenance and reliability. Most libraries have few policies and procedures that even begin to address, let alone ensure, the preservation of digital assets. The business risk-assessment tool is well suited to the dynamic environment in which libraries now find themselves. In academic libraries, changing research trends alter the demand for and value of collection items. Materials deemed ephemeral and of low research value four decades ago are now heavily researched, and so the work of making those resources readily available has increased, as have the risks to those collections.