Format Migration
Converting archived files to a current format before the original becomes unreadable.
In depth
Digital preservation is a continuous process rather than a one-time act, because formats and the software that reads them have finite lifespans. Migration should be planned on a decade scale, should preserve metadata, and should keep the originals until the converted files have been verified — since every conversion risks introducing its own errors.
Examples in practice
An archive of a discontinued proprietary raw format is converted to DNG while software can still read it.