1. A method of generating a characterizing summary in a preservation system, the method comprising: collecting first information about content data and one or more metadata included in a preservation object, wherein the preservation object includes a characterizing summary that is searchable and provides information about digital content associated with the preservation object, wherein a user's access to the characterizing summary provides the user with access to a sequence of inter-related links that point to other characterizing summaries in other preservations objects and to sources external to the preservation object, wherein the preservation object is created in association with a digital content that is being archived for future use; collecting second information about the content data and the metadata by searching for other preservation objects or other metadata stored on one or more preservation systems other than a preservation system on which the preservation object is stored; generating a characterizing summary for the content data or the metadata included in the preservation object according to the first information and the second information, wherein the characterizing summary includes the links and portions of the first information and second information that are relevant to the digital content; and adding the characterizing summary to the preservation object, wherein the preservation object is stored on one or more storage media in the preservation system, and wherein the collecting of the first information and the second information is repeated after the corresponding digital content is archived during predetermined time intervals, such that the characterizing summary for the preservation object is updated according to the collected first and second information to allow a user access to additional information that is relevant to the digital content as the digital content ages over time.