Preserving electronic documents

If your records are in digital format, you need to have the wherewithal to preserve and maintain them. Solutions recommended by a variety of state, federal and professional- association records-management administrators that can be applied to both institutional and personal electronic documents include:

Keep it simple.

- Files in a standard format are more likely to be readable in the distant future. When you store formatted word-processing files, accompany them with simple-text versions that will better stand the test of time. Image files stored as simple bitmaps without compression are much more likely to survive.

- Store data with the particular version of the software that created it.

- Keep two copies of digital data carefully in two separate places. Fire, flood, mildew and assorted insects can destroy digital materials, as well as paper.

- Keep saved software and hardware in a cool, dry place.

- Use high-quality media. Avoid brands you never heard of or that are particularly cheap.

- Inspect and refresh data even on optical media (see data migration strategy, below)

- Develop an archival plan before you upgrade hardware or software. The latest version of either may not work well with the material created in earlier versions.

- Keep your archives where you can get at them, not in a place that may be hard to remember and find years from now.

Know how long digital data storage media will last compared to other storage media.

- Paper storage is bulky, but advantageous in that documents on paper can be read easily, lasts a very long time and degrades gracefully. Longevity is significantly increased if the paper is acid-free and stored carefully at lower temperatures and humidities.

- The life expectancy of data-storage media depends on several factors: the quality with which the media was manufactured, the number of times it's been used over its lifetime, the care with which it is handled, storage temperature and humidity, the cleanliness of the storage environment and the quality of the recorder used to write the media.

- Testing by Imation/3M and Kodak, for instance, indicates that their CD-ROM media will last intact for 100 years. Optical disk media can last for several decades. Magnetic tape will last for about 10 years and digital magnetic tape 30 years. If you want to be certain your documents will be here 500 years hence without concerns about hardware and software, preserve them in both paper and digital form.

- Life expectancy is enhanced if media is stored in a clean, dry storage case and not left sitting around on desktops; not flexed or twisted (diskettes). Do not touch the media exposed in 5 1/4" diskette windows; do not write on diskettes with a hard-tipped pen or pencil; keep from exposure to magnetic fields and, if the diskette is used frequently, it should backed up with another copy in case the original disk wears out.

Develop a migration strategy to move records from one generation of technology to another

- Ensure the preservation of imaged records on existing media by paying careful attention to environmental storage. You don't want to migrate damaged records.

- Maintain the functionality of existing hardware and software through upgrades of equipment and source code.

- Make plans to migrate optical imaging systems, images, indexes, data files and related information through successive generations of technology. Remember that these will include hardware and programs not yet a twinkle in the eye of the granddaughter of today's computer-engineering student.

These suggestions were culled from sources that include the National Technology Alliance Web site and "Guidelines for Ensuring the Long-Term Accessibility and Usability of Records Stored as Digital Images," which is publication No. 22 in the Government Records Technical Information Series. To obtain copies of the publication, call the Government Records Services office of the State Archives and Records Administration at 518-474-6926 and ask for publication No. 22.

News Services Editor