e‐Science Curation report (www.jisc.ac.uk/publications/publications/pub_escience.aspx) differentiates digital curation from archiving and preservation as follows:

Curation. The activity of managing and promoting the use of data from its point of creation, to ensure it is fit for contemporary purpose, and available for discovery and re‐use. For dynamic datasets this may mean continuous enrichment or updating to keep it fit for purpose.

Archiving. A curation activity which ensures that data is properly selected, stored, can be accessed and that its logical and physical integrity is maintained over time, including security and authenticity.

Preservation. An archiving activity in which specific items of data are maintained over time so that they can still be accessed and understood through successive change and obsolescence of technologies.

Digital curation is becoming the umbrella term for digital preservation, data curation, and digital asset and electronic records management. As the UK’s Digital Curation Centre website argues, “Digital curation is the key to the sustainability, reproducibility, and re‐use of reliable and trusted digital resources”.