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This article provides information on preservation of metadata. Preservation of metadata is information that supports and documents processes aimed at preserving digital materials. It subsumes a broad range of information, including, but not limited to, descriptions of the technical environment needed to access, display and use an archived digital object, results of procedures validating the ongoing integrity and authenticity of the object in storage and a careful accounting of the archived object's provenance, including details about its origin, chain of custody and the outcomes of preservation actions. Preservation metadata is bundled either physically or logically with the archived digital object and accompanies it throughout the period of archival retention. Preservation metadata supplies a context for the archived object, this context is essential for securing the object's long-term accessibility and usability. The need for preservation of metadata is amplified by the characteristics of digital information environments. The principal challenge in creating a preservation metadata schema is to anticipate what information will actually be necessary in order to meet a particular set of preservation objectives.

This article presents an introductory guide to the open archival information system reference model. The impact of digital information environments has been remarkably universal, extending to industry, government and the academy, to business persons, scientists, engineers, and scholars of the humanities, to the individual in the workplace and the individual in the home. Vast quantities of information in digital form, such as text, images, audio, video, Web pages, computer programs, databases, are produced, exchanged, and used in a variety of settings, for myriad purposes. Such diverse applications of digital technology rest on a common foundation of shared benefits, including powerful search and retrieval capabilities, network delivery, perfect duplication, and interoperability. Just as the benefits of digital information environments transcend people, systems and domains, so do the challenges which accompany them. Nowhere is such an environment more evident than in regard to digital preservation, securing the long-term persistence of information in digital form. The capacity both to create and consume digital information has allegedly advanced steadily. Unfortunately, the capacity to manage the long-term stewardship of such information has been comparatively slow to develop.