search archive
Explore the Texas Digital Archive

Need for the TDA

The Need for the Texas Digital Archives (TDA)

The mission of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission (TSLAC) is to “provide Texans access to the information needed to be informed, productive citizens by preserving the archival record of Texas…”  In order to fulfill this mission, it is essential that the Archives and Information Services Division (ARIS) develop the robust infrastructure needed to manage and preserve a large amount of material in a variety of digital formats.

With the transfer of the records of Governor Rick Perry, ARIS is developing processes for the ingest, management, storage, archiving and access of digital material for the following acquisition and ingest streams: electronic publications captured through the Texas Records Information and Locator (TRAIL) service; digitized photos, documents, audio and video in TSLAC collections; and electronic records transferred from state agencies.  At the current time, these are the only processes that have functionality that addresses the major components of Open Archival Information System functionality.

TSLAC seeks to put in place a reliable repository for the preservation of digital content to ensure ongoing access.   Preserving digital material presents a different set of technological challenges from those of preserving analog material.  The creation of a comprehensive digital archive capable of ingesting digital material, storing and managing that digital material and associated metadata, and ensuring that digital material is accessible for the long term is essential to TSLAC fulfilling its mission.

The Texas Digital Archive (TDA) is envisioned as one or more electronic storage systems within which digitized and born-digital objects created or acquired by TSLAC reside.  The repository has the ability to store, preserve and provide access to all types of digital objects. Functionality includes:

  • ingest and management of content as well as the descriptive, administrative and structural metadata associated with stored objects;
  • preservation of objects in approved formats;
  • migration to new formats to insure objects do not become obsolete;
  • controls to insure only permitted access to objects.
Powered by Preservica
Texas State Library and Archives Commission | 1201 Brazos St., Austin TX 78701 | 512-463-5455 | ref@tsl.texas.gov | P.O. Box 12927, Austin TX 78711-2927