Letter of Compromise

Sue Ellen Jeffers, Registrar
Blanton Museum of Art
The University of Texas at Austin
1 University Station D1303
Austin, TX 78712
(512) 471-9203




Dear Ms. Jeffers,

I, Cassandra Gallegos, intend to conduct a preservation assessment of the digital art collection at the Blanton Museum of Art. The main objective of my assessment will be to aid in the long term preservation of this collection through a series of preservation recommendations delivered to you in the form of a written report at the end of the Spring 2009 school semester. The recommendations will include but will not be limited to:

• Storage media recommendations
• Environmental recommendations
• The long term risks associated with each format within the collection with special attention paid to the dangers of changing technology and migration issues upon digital files.
• Recommendations on how to best handle these long term risks
  
• Metadata recommendations
• File format recommendations
• Estimated cost of preservation recommendations
  

Any additional recommendations will aim to not only preserve the life of the materials (both analog and digital formats) but also to preserve the artistic authenticity intended by each artist.

Activities performed during this assessment may include:

• Accessing the collection both physically and through appropriate technological avenues.
• Accessing the collection throughout the semester via monitored appointments.

I look forward to working with you and I hope that my preservation report will make a difference in the life of the collection!

Sincerely,

Cassandra Gallegos