Electronic records management and preservation : the reality

Abstract

As custodians of information of different forms, libraries and archives could not escape from the challenge of management, preservation and conservation. The problems are compounded with the advents of digital and electronic records and materials. An array of tools and methodologies to reduce the decay of traditional materials and to restore books and documents that have deteriorated to such an extent that their longevity and usability are threatened have been developed by the library and archival community. The advent of electronic information introduces new preservation requirements. Terms such as medium preservation and technology preservation are now widely used. Medium preservation has been addressed in discussions on environmental and handling concerns for materials, such as tapes, magnetic disks, optical disks. Greater attention should also be directed to the obsolescence of technologies. It is a challenge to imagine not only how to technically preserve electronic records indefinitely, but also how to choose what to preserve and how to guarantee the electronic record's reliability and authenticity in the future. The combined problems of immense volume, unstable storage media, and obsolete hardware and software add up to some very tough problems, which have to be dealt with.