Digital preservation - is that the right term to use?

In his blog post "Digital Preservation" term considered harmful?, Chris Rusbridge argues that "digital preservation" is a process, not an outcome. He believes that we should be talking about the outcome of this process and using words to describe the outcome. An outcome might be phrased as "usability over time".

I like the idea of using a different phrase. When we talk about usability over time, for example, we get the idea that there is a reason for digital preservation. We also then can discuss not only preserving the digital asset, but also preserving the metadata and ensuring the viability of the hardware and software. The proper phrase not only focuses us, but also broadens our understanding of what digital preservation is.

I wonder if the digital preservation community would be willing to begin using a new term en masse?

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Technorati tag: Digital Preservation