Emulation for Digital Preservation in Practice: The Results Jeffrey van der Hoeven, The National Library of the Netherlands

In recent years a lot of research has been undertaken to ascertain the most suitable preservation approach. For a long time migration was seen as the only viable approach, whereas emulation was looked upon with scepticism due to its technical complexity and initial costs. In 2004, the National Library of the Netherlands (Koninklijke Bibliotheek, [KB]) and the Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands acknowledged the need for emulation, especially for rendering complex digital objects without affecting their authenticity and integrity. A project was started to investigate the feasibility of emulation by developing and testing an emulator designed for digital preservation purposes. In July 2007 this project ended and delivered a durable x86 component-based computer emulator: Dioscuri, the first modular emulator for digital preservation. The International Journal of Digital Curation is an international journal committed to scholarly excellence and dedicated to the advancement of digital curation across a wide range of sectors. ISSN: 1746-8256 The IJDC is published by UKOLN at the University of Bath and is a publication of the Digital Curation Centre. 124 Emulation for Digital Preservatio