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Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to understand the emergence of digital reformatting as a technique for preserving information within the cultural heritage preservation community by reviewing historical trends in modern preservation research. Design/methodology/approach: This paper analyzes secondary sources, reviews and historical texts to identify trends in the intellectual and technological histories of preservation research, beginning with the first applications of the scientific method to combating book decay in the early nineteenth to the emergence of digitization techniques in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Findings: This paper identifies five major historical periods in the development of preservation knowledge: the early experimental era; era of microfilm experimentation; era of professionalization; era of digital library research; and the era of digital reformatting and mass digitization; and identifies three major trends in its development: empirical inquiry, standardization and centralization. Research limitations/implications: Findings reflect broad trends in the field of preservation, primarily in a United States context and are limited to the modern era of preservation research. Practical implications: This paper's broad historical overview provides a reference for preservation professionals and students in library science or archives programs. Identifying historical trends enables practitioners to critically examine their own preservation techniques and make better decisions when adopting and using new preservation technologies. Originality/value: This paper provides a unique perspective on the history of preservation knowledge that synthesizes existing historical research in order to identify periods and trends that enable a clearer understanding of digital reformatting in its historical emergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to produce figures showing the carbon footprint of the knowledge industry - from creation to distribution and use of knowledge, and to provide comparative figures for digital distribution and access. Design/methodology/approach - An extensive literature search and environmental scan was conducted to produce data relating to the CO2 emissions from various industries and activities such as book and journal production, photocopying activities, information technology and the internet. Other sources such as the International Energy Agency (IEA), Carbon Monitoring for Action (CARMA ), Copyright Licensing Agency, UK (CLA), Copyright Agency Limited, Australia (CAL), etc., have been used to generate emission figures for production and distribution of print knowledge products versus digital distribution and access. Findings - The current practices for production and distribution of printed knowledge products generate an enormous amount of CO2. It is estimated that the book industry in the UK and USA alone produces about 1.8 million tonnes and about 11.27 million tonnes of CO2 respectively. CO2 emission for the worldwide journal publishing industry is estimated to be about 12 million tonnes. It is shown that the production and distribution costs of digital knowledge products are negligible compared to the environmental costs of production and distribution of printed knowledge products. Practical implications - Given the astounding emission figures for production and distribution of printed knowledge products, and the associated activities for access and distribution of these products, for example, emissions from photocopying activities permitted within the provisions of statutory licenses provided by agencies like CLA, CAL, etc., it is proposed that a digital distribution and access model is the way forward, and that such a system will be environmentally sustainable. Originality/value - It is expected that the findings of this study will pave the way for further research and this paper will be extremely helpful for design and development of the future knowledge distribution and access systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]