Fundamentally, the purpose of the Bit List is advocacy, bringing attention to at-risk data and providing independently verified evidence to support action and investment. Entries are compiled by open nomination and are reviewed by the Bit List Council which is drawn from a global expert community. It represents the voice of those charged with ensuring the continuing access to digital materials beyond the limits of technical obsolescence, media degradation or organizational change.
This year, 2024, is an ‘interim’ year. Last year, the Bit List Council completed a full review resulting in the fourth revised edition (The Bit List 2023). Since then, the Council has been keeping a watching brief on the digital species to identify and record any significant innovations or aggravating factors that might affect entries. The 2024 Interim Review synthesizes that review and offers an update on emerging risk trends.
“The review has identified six entries where the associated trends had moved towards even greater risk, and of those, ‘Always Online Games’ and ‘Consumer Social Media Free at the Point of Use’ entries showed increased risk trends for the second consecutive year,” explains Dr Amy Currie of the Digital Preservation Coalition, who coordinated the production of the interim report for 2024.
“No entries were identified as having decreasing risk trends and all other entries remained unchanged from 2023, indicating that the overall risk profile remains on the same basis as noted in 2023.”
The 2024 interim review was conducted in the context of cyber-warfare and disinformation which continue to be significant threats, not least at a time of geopolitical instability. And this evolving threat has been met with necessary and large investments in cybersecurity. However, the Bit List Council noted an unintended consequence for the longer term whereby increasingly strict security requirements make it harder to work with legacy content or applications.
AI’s rapid expansion has introduced new uncertainties. Concerns include users deleting content to prevent its use in training AI models and website blocking scrapers, which could hinder preservation efforts. And copyright, intellectual property, and orphan works remain critical issues for many digital materials, not least in the world of video games. In the last 12 months, cultural classics have been taken off sale from digital stores, digital ownership has been challenged, and community-made emulators have been shut down in the wake of legal threats.
In response to these emerging threats, and by reviewing the Bit List again in 2024, the DPC restates its call to action from the previous year: explicitly, for its members, partners and colleagues globally to take four steps in response:
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Preserve Digital Protest Materials: Act urgently to safeguard digital materials emerging from political upheaval. These records are at immediate risk and need your support now.
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Protect Digital Cultural Heritage in Conflicts: Close the gaps in international treaties to protect digital cultural heritage during conflicts. Recognize that cyberwarfare turns every connected device into a battlefield and grant special legal protection to digital heritage.
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Remove Barriers to Social Media Preservation: Eliminate obstacles that hinder the preservation of social media. Enable trusted and legitimate actors to take necessary preservation actions.
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Expand Digital Preservation Research and Capabilities: Invest in and broaden research and resources dedicated to digital preservation. Ensure we have the tools and knowledge to protect our digital legacy.
Managing and maintaining the Bit List is just one of the ways the DPC supports the digital preservation community. An international charitable foundation which supports digital preservation, the DPC helps its members around the world to deliver resilient long-term access to digital content and services through community engagement, targeted advocacy work, training and workforce development, capacity building, good practice and standards, and through good management and governance. Its vision is a sustainable future for our digital assets.
Read the 'Bit List' of Digitally Endangered Species Interim Report 2024.