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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;elarnia, post: 6960, member: 159&quot;]Greg is right about the format issue.&nbsp; People act like creating sending and storing information digitally is just a convenience.&nbsp; It certainly is that, but it also means that, for the first time in history, HOW we access data has changed. </p><p><br /></p><p>From clay tablets and hieroglyphics to photocopies and even in a pinch microfiche, if you knew the language all you needed to read something was your eyes. And you didn&#039;t even need to read to access images - thus all the moral lessons in church art. </p><p><br /></p><p>Now we have data and images being created that will never exist outside of machines.&nbsp; To access them you need the right machine and program. Even leaving aside the capacity for misuse of this by authority, just think about how much will be lost by each generation just because not all records will be reformatted as systems change.&nbsp; Finding a centuries old journal has rewritten history on several occasions.&nbsp; Finding a 300 year old 5 1/4 inch floppy disc? Not so much.&nbsp; (Or even a 30 year old one - I&#039;ve got some - no idea what&#039;s on them.)</p><p><br /></p><p>Most governments are addressing this in part by requiring the use of standard open formats like tif or pdf (only partially open), and requiring retention schedules to include reformatting, but a lot of businesses and organizations use proprietary software and formats.&nbsp; Many already have legacy databases no-one is maintaining that will be dumped as soon as legal deadlines have passed.</p><p><br /></p><p>Think about this the next time your business or club appoints a new records manager, or you buy a new computer and decide to try out a new, easy, all encompassing program for it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Sorry - this is my soapbox issue - I am really afraid that we will realize the potential for loss of information because of the wholesale destruction of records in favor of selective digitization too late to do anything about it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Cheers[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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