[1] The migration method (also known as inactive archiving)[3] involves transferring data from an obsolete database program to a newer format.
Interoperability involves decreasing the possibility of obsolescence by ensuring a particular file can be accessed with more than one combination of software and hardware.
[1] However, in converting data to XML format, certain interactive functionality of the database, such as the ability to query, is lost.
[3] The emulation method involves recreating an older computing environment with newer technologies and software.
[6] Version 2.0 of the SIARD preservation format was designed and developed by the Swiss Federal Archives under the auspices of the E-ARK project.
New features in version 2.0 include: A XML schema was created by researcher José Carlos Ramalho from the University of Minho to capture table information and data from a relational database.
All data can therefore be accessed and read without a Database Management System (DBMS), or CHRONOS itself, as it is in plain text format.
[9] Although CHRONOS stores data in plain text format, its querying capabilities, are considered comparable to that of a relational database.
These connectors pair with a particular DBMS, extract its data, and represent it in XML form which then leads to representation in DBML and SIARD.
[10] The toolkit also allows conversion of the preservation formats back into live systems to allow the full functionality of databases.
For example, it supports a specialized export into MySQL, optimized for PhpMyAdmin, so the database can be fully experimented using a web interface.
[12] Research projects this regard include: RODA, or the Repository of Authentic Digital Objects, was a project launched in Portugal in 2006 by the Portuguese National Archives, in order to preserve those digital objects produced by Portugal’s government institutions.
The project aimed to combine several types of digital objects into one repository including relational databases.
[10] The RODA project emphasized the creation of a standardized method for preserving databases as digital objects.