WASHINGTON, Jan. 8 -- Information stored on computer disks or CD-ROMs --
whether it is as insignificant as Aunt Betty's cookie recipe or as vital as
the U.S. Department of Energy's list of plutonium storage sites -- could be
lost or inaccessible in 20 years.
A lost recipe may be of small consequence to the world, but the loss of
data recording critical research, vital demographic or financial
information, or the locations of stored toxic materials is another story --
as yet, untold to the American public. The reality is that vast quantities
of digitized information chronicling the knowledge and history of our time
will not survive in their present form.
"Digital information is at risk of disappearing or becoming inaccessible,"
warns Deanna Marcum, President of the Council on Library and Information
Resources (CLIR) in Washington, D.C. "Either the media on which it is
stored are disintegrating, or the computer hardware and software needed to
retrieve information from obsolete digital formats no longer exist."
Marcum says the scope of the problem will become increasingly apparent as
records are requested for retrieval and cannot be read. There are already
documented examples of such problems, and government and industry alike
worry behind closed doors about the scale of the coming crisis. But few are
willing to admit publicly that the problem exists.
A spokesperson for the National Archives estimates that when President
Clinton completes his term, his administration will send eight million
electronic files to the National Archives. Those files are only a handful
of government-generated information. Given the problems that are surfacing
as existing digital files are retrieved, the potential for major losses is
great. Military files, including POW and MIA data from the Vietnam War,
were nearly lost forever because of errors and omissions contained in the
original digital records. Ten to 20 percent of vital data tapes from the
Viking Mars mission have significant errors because, as Jet Propulsion
Laboratory technicians now realize, magnetic tape is "a disaster for an
archival storage medium." In many cases, it is impossible to know the
extent of data degradation, because equipment required to read it no longer
exists.
Research conducted by the National Media Lab, part of the National
Technology Alliance (a consortium of government, industry, and educational
institutions to leverage commercial information technology for government
users) has shown that magnetic tapes, disks, and optical CD-ROMs have
relatively short lives -- and, therefore, questionable value as
preservation media. The findings show that, at room temperature,
top-quality data VHS tape becomes unreliable after 10 years, and
average-quality CD-ROMs are unreliable after only five years. Compared to
the 100+ years life span of archival- quality microfilm and paper, current
digital media are unacceptable for long- term preservation.
Finding a late-model computer to read a 5.25-inch floppy disk -- a format
common only a few years ago -- or the software to translate WordPerfect 4.0
is practically impossible. On a government and industry level, the
retrieval problem is magnified: old Dectape and UNIVAC drives, which
recorded massive amounts of government data, are long retired, and programs
like FORTRAN II are history. The data stored by these machines in now
obsolete formats are virtually inaccessible. Hardware and software
manufacturers have shown more interest in discovering new technology than
in preserving today's data.
"The year 2000 problem is nothing compared to this," says Marcum. "There is
no quick fix," she cautions. "We must invest now in research and
development to assure the permanent availability of digital records and the
preservation of knowledge into the future."
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Douglas Haynes
Archival Digital Imaging
phone : 301-689-9570
fax : 301-689-9571