säilitusteabele

Säilitusteabele is an Estonian term used in digital archiving and records management to describe a structured tabular data element that records retention, preservation actions, and related metadata for digital records. The concept centers on organizing essential preservation information in a table to support long-term access and accountability.

Purpose and scope: The primary function of a säilitusteabele is to document and manage when and how records should be preserved, migrated, or deleted. It supports compliance with retention schedules, facilitates planning of preservation actions, and provides an auditable trail of decisions and activities.

Structure and contents: A typical säilitusteabele includes fields such as record_id, asset_title, retention_period, current_action (retain, migrate, delete), start_date, end_date, preservation_actions (checksums, format migration, bit-level preservation), storage_location, media_type, access_level, legal_hold, responsible_unit, and notes. The exact schema can vary by organization, but the focus remains on linking a record to its preservation requirements and actions.

Lifecycle and use: The table is maintained within a records management or digital preservation system and is often linked to the corresponding digital asset. It enables automated reminders for migrations, alerts about approaching end dates, and documentation of preservation events to support accountability and governance.

Relation to standards: Säilitusteabele aligns conceptually with preservation metadata practices such as PREMIS and with the OAIS reference model. It also connects to retention scheduling and metadata requirements outlined in international standards like ISO 15489 and related archival workflows.

Etymology and usage: The term combines säilitus (preservation) and tabel (table) in Estonian and is used in archival documentation and IT governance to describe this essential preservation record structure.