Incremental implementation: A staged approach to introducing a new digital preservation management system

This paper describes the exploration into and implementation of a hosted digital preservation management system at the University of Montana Archives and Special Collections. This was done to find a solution to the increasingly economically and environmentally unsustainable procedures practised at the university. Three products were analysed, and one was recommended as a potential future solution. A project-based implementation of the chosen solution using grant funds was used to make a business case for full implementation. The business case was successful in so much as an additional implementation for a single collection was completed. The paper details the roadblocks encountered during implementation and how they were successfully managed by the digital archivist and the person hired to support the implementation. The paper concludes with a discussion of next steps to maintain the project into the future.