The responsibility for the documentary sources management and preservation. Digital fragility and ethic commitment

Abstract

The contribution examines topics related to the management, keeping and use of digital documentary resources with specific attention to their ethical dimension. This aspect is analyzed at a general level and specifically with reference to the need for professionals to carefully re-define the organizational models, the platforms planning and activities related to the fruition of digital assets. The author analyses the dynamic complexity of the contemporary digital heritage and the consequences required to professionals in term of high level of knowledge and competences and full respect of guiding principles and scientific methods in each domain. The digital environment implies also flexibility, integration capacity, a permanent exercise of responsibility, a continuous updating of specialized knowledge and an interdisciplinary approach. The success in the qualified mediation between conflicting interests and principles, at the basis of the digital curation and preservation complexities, is strictly connected to the mediators’ recognition of the civil value of their function.