So true.  The first red flag came up some 10 or 15 years ago, when it was
discovered that there were no tape drives left which could read the magnetic
tapes of the 1950 census.

More currently, I cannot read the 5 1/4 inch diskettes upon which all
software and data were written and read by IBM PCs through the mid 1980's.
And actually the last PC that I got does not even have the small (was it 3.5
inch?) drive on it.

I have heard that CDs have a tendency to come apart and/or lose data over
time.  And I have already experienced home-written DVDs which play with more
and more errors over time, and eventually do not work at all.

It is really ironic that IF you want to insure that you can read read
records 50 years from now, your best alternative is the printed page, on
acid-free paper of course.

Randy Cabell
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rosanna Bencoach" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Tuesday, November 21, 2006 8:48 PM
Subject: [VA-HIST] Electronic records preservation


> Worth reading...
> "The Digital Ice Age," from Popular Mechanics' December issue.
> http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4201645.html
>
> Rosanna
>
>
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