Book Review: Preserving Our Heritage: Perspectives from Antiquity to the Digital Age

Abstract

Weighing in at a significant three and a half pounds of not quite Bible-thin permanent paper, Preserving Our Heritage is the long-awaited anthology of fundamental preservation literature curated by Michèle V. Cloonan, Simmons College Professor and Editor-in-Chief of the journal Preservation, Digital Technology, and Culture. The impressive tome chronicles preservation through the earliest evidence of its conceptualization in historical works to examinations of the philosophical underpinnings of pressing contemporary issues such as risk management in times of both natural hazards and social unrest; the challenges of managing time-based media and digital materials; government policy in the area of preservation; ethics; the intersection of conservation, multiculturalism, and globalization; and sustainability.