International standards and offline archiving through the use of recordable optical discs

A critical issue the digital heritage sector faces today in terms of long term data preservation is how to assure the ability to retrieve and preserve data in the face of continued technology evolution and related technology obsolescence. This paper discusses a viable way to minimize the risk of technology obsolescence and proposes a safer method of archiving and monitoring data preservation operations, which comply with the international standards using optical discs such as CD, DVD and BD´s. In addition, this method may contribute to the leveling operation in many different digital heritage sectors.