The tasks associated with managing and backing up digital data are well known to IT
managers, but the mere presence of the data stream is not the only criterion for preserving
and maintaining digital content. Digital sustainability recognises that the continuity of
digital information goes well beyond basic storing and managing of data and is integrated
into the lifecycle of the information object. It includes technical, social and economic
considerations. In 2004 a DEST-funded project, the Australian Partnership for Sustainable
Repositories (APSR) initiated an investigative process to establish a centre of excellence for
the management of digital collections. The APSR has an overall focus on the critical issues
of the access continuity and the sustainability of digital collections, and this paper draws on
the investigation of these issues in the University sector