[SCC_Active_Members] Software Archive Problem Statements?

[Larry Masinter]

I suggest following the reference model for archival systems
OAIS (http://public.ccsds.org/publications/archive/650x0b1.pdf)
and separate out the problems of ingest, long-term preservation
and access.

Software (and software-related artifacts) may have unique
requirements that require modification to typical ingest
procedures for acquisition, conversion and metadata assignment,
and are worth looking at from a differential requirements
analysis point of view -- especially around unique metadata
for software and its related artifacts (e.g., videos,
manuals, recordings, etc. of the software).

Software may have unique requirements for access, especially
around providing emulators and other means of allowing
people to 'experience' it.

However, I wouldn't invest SCC or CHM energy on providing
for long-term preservation of the data itself, because this
is a problem that is well understood and for which many different
systems have been proposed. Instead, I would recommend the
CHM establish relationships with other organizations which
are already working on long-term archiving to send copies of
its collection -- as it is acquired or updated -- to those
organizations. 

Larry