Re: durable digital in current technology-->stewardship
[ Home ][ Thread ][ Subject ][ Author ][ Date ]Ken Thibodeau
Mon, 20 Apr 1998 10:52:27 -0400
Over the past few years there have been a number of publications in the
archival field arguing that archives (i.e., archival institutions) should not
preserve electronic records, but should leave them in the organizations
that created them, with the archives performing an oversight & audit
function. This line of argument has been termed 'post-custodialism.'
Your comment sums up very succinctly the core of the rebuttal of this
proposal: preservation of authentic records is at the heart of the mission
of an archives. For the creators, their mission is their current business.
Ken Thibodeau
>>> Patricia Galloway 04/20/98 10:07am
>>>
Stewart Brand pointed to the perils of dependence on stewardship; it
seems to me that the most secure infrastructure for the preservation of
information is an immortal institution whose self-preservation is bound
up with the preservation of the information: religions and governments
come to mind (e.g., medieval scriptoria and chancelleries). Without
continuity in such an infrastructure, information encoded in even the
most durable forms will be lost (e.g., Stonehenge).
Pat Galloway
Reply: Stewart Brand: "Re: durable digital in current technology-->stewardship"