Welcome to the InterPARES Web site!

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the InterPARES Project, which was launched in 1999 to address the concerns raised by the fact that organizations and individuals had come to rely in a fundamental manner on the creation, exchange and processing of digital information without recognizing the grave threat posed to records by the rapid obsolescence of hardware and software, the fragility of digital storage media, and the ease with which digital entities can be manipulated. Digital technology had profoundly challenged the traditional methods by which records were identified, recognized as accurate, reliable and authentic, appraised and preserved. The InterPARES Project chose to rely on an intellectual framework based on archival science and diplomatics, but committed to an inter-disciplinary process involving a wide spectrum of academic and professional fields, from geography and musicology to computer engineering and law. Its researchers include individuals, organizations and institutions from five continents, working in the public and private sectors. Its research assistants come from a variety of graduate programs, from linguistics, film study and history, to public administration, photography and computer science.

InterPARES 1 was carried out between 1999 and 2001. It focused on the authentic preservation of administrative and legal records created and maintained in databases and document management systems. Its primary products were conceptual requirements for authenticity, methods of selection and preservation, and an intellectual framework for the development of policies and strategies. The findings of InterPARES 1 can be found on this site in electronic form. They are also published as a book entitled The Long-term Preservation of Authentic Electronic Records: The Findings of The InterPARES Project. Luciana Duranti ed. (San Miniato: Archilab, 2005) and distributed by the Society of American Archivists. The book is also available in electronic from here.

InterPARES 2, , which began in 2002 and was concluded in 2007, aimed to develop theory and methods capable of ensuring the reliability, accuracy, and authenticity of electronic records from their inception and throughout their preservation. The research focused on records created in dynamic, experiential and interactive systems in the course of artistic, scientific and governmental activities. The findings and products of the second phase can be found on this site in electronic form. They are also published as a book entitled International Research on Permanent Authentic Records in Electronic Systems (InterPARES) 2: Experiential, Interactive and Dynamic Records. Luciana Duranti and Randy Preston, eds. (Padova, Italy: Associazione Nazionale Archivistica Italiana, 2008) and distributed by the Society of American Archivists. The book is also available in electronic from here.

InterPARES 3, which began in September 2007 and will continue until August 2012, has as its goal the implementation of the findings of the first two phases of the project in archival organizations or units endowed with limited resources.

This site contains information about, and provides access to documents produced by all three phases of the InterPARES Project. Every page has at the bottom a "comments" link. I invite you to read the material as we post it and provide the InterPARES research community with feedback and ideas so that we may together increase our understanding of the problems and find viable solutions. If you wish to know about opportunities to meet InterPARES researchers and talk with them in detail about the work they are doing or the progress of the research in general, go to the Future Presentations page and find events, venues and dates. Each and every one of us will be happy to meet with you, answer your questions, and receive suggestions, comments and any useful information that you are willing to share. Enjoy the reading!

Dr. Luciana Duranti
InterPARES Project Director