Translations:Digitization, Preservation and Ingest/227/en

To be able to do this, we use fixity to record the initial state of a file before ingest by taking its “digital fingerprint.” In fact, fixity software will record a number of a file’s specific, technical characteristics and create an alphanumeric code—a “checksum.” This checksum, just like fingerprints for humans, will be unique for that file and should not change over time. The checksum for a file will be recorded as part of its metadata so we can always perform the same fixity check and establish whether the file’s checksum has changed—that is, whether a file has changed. Recording this type of preservation metadata is crucial for confirming and establishing a digital item's "chain of custody.”