Digital preservation metadata and archival digital records

Abstract

This article reflects on the concept of digital records, the conditions that make a archival digital record. It is argued that the global coronavirus pandemic has forced the provision of digital services to several services, emphasizing the digital transformation of public and private services, such as remote work and teaching. In this way, it is understood that the use of electronic platforms has caused a significant increase in digital records, which document the most varied types of personal and professional activities, and evidenced the needs of metadata for preservation activities. The discussions were developed based on a systematic literature review, which identified the theoretical contributions to support a study on the relationships between archival digital records and metadata for digital preservation. It was found that, from the moment the metadata becomes part of the archival digital record, care for the management of these metadata becomes as important as care for the management of the document or record, in isolation. Since it is impossible to carry out the long-term preservation of these materials without the effective management of the metadata that compose it. It is urgent, on the part of Archivists, to expand the understanding of archival digital records as a theoretical construct with different conceptual and pragmatic challenges - but not excluding, those existing in the digital archival document.