Among the many conservation related terms in common use nowadays, none describes an emerging category in the field of preservation that is based upon the production of records, which can then be used by the observer to experience the object virtually. For example, the digitization of the documents in an archive permits historians to study them without even touching the original manuscripts, which are safely kept in their repositories. [...] This form of preservation is currently strongly linked to photography and new digital technologies, but it also includes more traditional processes, such as the substitution of valuable original sculptures or even the manual copy of valuable documents. All of these techniques allow many observers to access some of the most important contents of the original object without any risk to it. These techniques could be properly called 'informational preservation', since they preserve part of the information contained in the object (the text, the shape and the look), but not the object itself. [...] It is also interesting to note that the knowledge required for performing informational preservation is usually different from that of the conservator. It is closer to that of photographers, modellers, carpenters or even computer specialists. In this sense, informational preservation could be viewed more as a conservation-related activity (such as effective fire-protection, public education or security measures in museums), than as a branch of the conservation profession (such as direct preservation, restoration and, very often, environmental preservation). Munoz Vinas, 2005, p. 23 - 25