# digital curation

> selection, preservation, maintenance, collection and archiving of digital assets

**Wikidata**: [Q5276060](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5276060)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_curation)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/digital-curation

## Summary
Digital curation is the selection, preservation, maintenance, collection, and archiving of digital assets. It is a specialized form of curating focused on managing digital materials over time. This process ensures long-term access and usability of digital content.

## Key Facts
- Digital curation is a subclass of curating, which oversees collections, exhibitions, research activities, and personnel of museums, galleries, or other collections
- It has aliases including "curacion digital" in Spanish
- The Wikipedia title for this topic is "Digital curation"
- It is described in Wikidata as "selection, preservation, maintenance, collection and archiving of digital assets"
- The topic is available in 8 Wikipedia languages: Arabic, Czech, English, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Portuguese, and Turkish
- It has a Freebase ID of /m/07z6r6 and a Google Knowledge Graph ID of /g/113qbpln0
- The Microsoft Academic ID (discontinued) for this topic is 2775953033
- It has a Dictionary of Archives Terminology ID of "digital-curation"

## FAQs
### Q: What is the difference between digital curation and digital preservation?
A: Digital curation is a broader concept that includes digital preservation as one of its components. While digital preservation focuses specifically on maintaining digital assets over time, digital curation encompasses the entire lifecycle from selection through archiving.

### Q: Why is digital curation important?
A: Digital curation ensures that valuable digital assets remain accessible, usable, and meaningful over time. It addresses challenges like technological obsolescence, data degradation, and changing formats to maintain the integrity and value of digital collections.

### Q: Who performs digital curation?
A: Digital curation is performed by digital curators, information professionals, archivists, librarians, and other specialists who manage digital collections in various institutions including museums, libraries, archives, and research organizations.

## Why It Matters
Digital curation plays a critical role in our increasingly digital world by ensuring that valuable digital assets remain accessible and usable over time. As more information and cultural heritage moves to digital formats, the need for systematic management of these materials becomes essential. Digital curation addresses the challenges of technological obsolescence, data degradation, and format changes that threaten the long-term survival of digital content. It enables organizations to maintain the integrity, authenticity, and usability of their digital collections, supporting research, education, cultural preservation, and business operations. Without effective digital curation, vast amounts of digital information could become inaccessible or lost, representing a significant loss to society's collective knowledge and cultural heritage.

## Notable For
- Comprehensive lifecycle management of digital assets from selection through archiving
- Addresses technological obsolescence and format migration challenges
- Supports long-term access and usability of digital collections
- Recognized across multiple languages and international contexts
- Integrates with academic research and institutional knowledge management systems

## Body
### Classification and Relationships
Digital curation is classified as a subclass of curating, inheriting the broader responsibilities of overseeing collections, exhibitions, research activities, and personnel. This hierarchical relationship places digital curation within the established framework of collection management while specializing it for digital contexts.

### Identifiers and References
The topic has multiple unique identifiers across different knowledge systems, including Freebase ID /m/07z6r6, Google Knowledge Graph ID /g/113qbpln0, and Microsoft Academic ID 2775953033. These identifiers demonstrate the topic's recognition across various digital knowledge platforms and its integration into broader information ecosystems.

### International Recognition
Digital curation is recognized across eight Wikipedia languages, indicating its global relevance and the universal need for managing digital assets. The availability in languages including Arabic, Czech, English, Japanese, Korean, Macedonian, Portuguese, and Turkish suggests widespread adoption of digital curation practices across different cultural and linguistic contexts.

### Academic and Professional Context
The topic has connections to academic research through its Microsoft Academic ID and is referenced in specialized terminology databases like the Dictionary of Archives Terminology. This academic recognition underscores the importance of digital curation as a formal discipline with established practices and methodologies.

## References

1. [OpenAlex](https://docs.openalex.org/download-snapshot/snapshot-data-format)