Department of Library and Information Science and Media Science and Arts faculty collaborate to publish an article on digital preservation of virtual reality environments!

Drs. Angela P. Murillo, Andrea Copeland, and Ayoung Yoon, along with Associate Faculty Lydia Spotts and Media Arts and Science Lecturer Zeb Woods recently published an article in the International Journal of Digital Curation. The article entitled “Complexities of Digital Preservation in a Virtual Reality Environment, the Case of Virtual Bethel” examines the digital preservation needs of virtual reality environments through exploring the digital preservation challenges of the Virtual Bethel.  The Virtual Bethel is a collaboration involving digital archiving and a 3-D re-creation of the Bethel AME Church, a building near the IUPUI campus.

Abstract:

The complexity of preserving virtual reality environments combines the challenges of preserving singular digital objects, the relationships among those objects, and the processes involved in creating those relationships. A case study involving the preservation of the Virtual Bethel environment is presented. This case is active and ongoing. The paper provides a brief history of the Bethel AME Church of Indianapolis and its importance, then describes the unique preservation challenges of the Virtual Bethel project, and finally provides guidance and preservation recommendations for Virtual Bethel, using the National Digital Stewardship Alliance Levels of Preservation. Discussion of limitations of the guidance and recommendations follow.

The article is available on the International Journal of Digital Curation website.