Conserving software-based artwork through software engineering

A long term strategy is offered for conserving software-based digital art in perpetuity based on software engineering practice. Software engineering is a rigorous, formalized practice approach to preservation that engages all stakeholders, including: artists, curators, and conservators; offering a breadth of methodologies and degrees of rigor that may be adapted by organizations of all sizes. In this paper the focus is on the software engineering maintenance process, and how it converts digital art into formats that should make it preservable and displayable in the deep future.