Translations:Preserveren van digitale kunst: uitdagingen en oplossingen uit de praktijk/13/en

:Q: In what way will defining the essential properties help you (and the community) preserve the work (and works alike)?

A: The work will not run on the computer used in the Stedelijk Museum for ever. After some years, it will have to be migrated to another computer as the computer will eventually fail. Although it might be possible to find replacement computers of the same age or model, they will not be functional in the long term. As soon as the work is moved to a different hardware, differences will appear. If you know the significant properties of the artwork, you can decide which discrepancies are acceptable and which are not. These significant properties are not carved in stone; they are a result of previous negotiations with artists and curators, and of its exhibition history, and can extend to the present/future.