The long view: the future of storing and sharing records - Sunlight Foundation Blog

"Those in government who manage and preserve public records are charged with great responsibility: what they choose to preserve or destroy can dictate how history remembers the promises and actions of a government. The historical narrative can only be compiled from what is available, after all. Records managers are the ones who create the body of evidence that historians sift through to find the narrative of a time, place, or event. For that reason, what records managers choose to keep and preserve, just as much as what they destroy or allow to deteriorate, has an impact on what the historical narrative can reflect. With that weight on their shoulders, records managers must act with the current and future value of records in mind. It's important to consider this as governments work to update their records management practices for the digital era. The transition to a digital era of creating, storing and sharing public records means it is becoming easier to preserve more information and make it more accessible. It is an opportunity for a fuller body of evidence to drive the historical narrative. Digital records will be a key part of this, but history shows that it may make sense to store records in other formats, too. Why? Preserving records in digital format can present the same kinds of challenges as preserving physical records: records in any one format need the proper care to continue to be accessible. While digital records are not vulnerable to the physical deterioration that paper experiences, there is digital deterioration that needs to be addressed. With physical copies of records, no one needs a certain machine or software to access documents. Digital copies of records, on the other hand, are subject to the rapidly-changing technology landscape. Think of how many file formats and technologies for storing and accessing those files have come and gone already in the age of the computer. (Used a floppy disk lately?) Digital file formats change quickly and likely will continue to do so. Open formats may be able to help with this to an extent by being accessible through a wide variety of software. The reality for many digital formats, however, is that what is commonly used today could be history tomorrow. For that reason, physical backups of the most important records might continue to be practical. There are already well-established systems in place for ensuring the proper preservation of paper records, even if those systems can be costly or complex. For governments moving to digital records, they'll need to act now to create strong systems for ensuring the preservation and continued accessibility of records in any format ..."