Fox, Lisa L. (1985) "Archival Preservation in the Age of Technology," Provenance, Journal of the Society of Georgia Archivists: Vol. 3: Iss. 1, Article 4.
Available at: http://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/provenance/vol3/iss1/4
"Preservation planning should anticipate that
there will be changes in technology. While printed
documents can be read without the devices that
created them, others (such as sound recordings and
computer tapes) are useless, without accompanying
hardware. One university accepted an important
collection of wire recordings that was frequently
used by researchers; but when the player wore out and
could not be replaced, the information on the
recordings was lost. Having learned from such
experiences, archivists should plan carefully to
ensure continued access to the computer data
in the future.
Computer technology changes rapidly, rendering
hardware obsolete within a decade, so archivists
should anticipate the future obsolescence of some
computer resources. It may now seem quite adequate
to accept, process, and store safely a floppy disk
created on, say, an IBM Personal Computer. But
twenty years from now (or probably much sooner) IBM
(assuming it still exists) may no longer make a PC
nor the software to support it. How will the
information on the well-preserved disks be accessed
then? Just as the wire recordings could have been
transferred to another medium before the player wore
out, so can computer data be preserved in another
media for security purposes. Of course, much
computer data is of only short-term value, so its
long-range preservation is not necessary. However,
it might be worthwhile to establish one of two
policies to ensure that machine-readable data remain
usable in the long range. An archive might implement
a policy requiring that machine-readable data which
has archival value must, when transferred to the
repository, be accompanied by a hard-copy version on
permanent paper. Alternatively, schedules for the
review and potential re-copying of machine-readable
data should be established and consulted regularly.
With the increased use of computers and
microcomputers, archivists should expect to begin
receiving a great deal of computer printout paper,
not only from accounting departments and university
registrars, but from the growing number of
individuals who use computer technology to compose
and communicate for business and personal purposes.
As it becomes more widely used, this paper will pose
some problems to preservation because of its size and
acidity.
..........
None of these comments is intended to imply that
archives and manuscript repositories will suddenly be
inundated by floppy disks, computer tape, and
printout paper. However, as computer technology
comes to play a more important role in education,
government, research, and personal life, archivists
should expect to notice the impact in the kinds of
materials they receive. It is important, therefore,
to begin now to plan the preservation response to
these technologies."
