I've not completely been working in isolation for the last 25 years.
If I with all my myriad computers can do it, then there is absolutely
no reason why folks who do this for a living cannot do the same.
Arguing about how many electrons fit on the head of an electronic pin
(which "standard" is to be the one true benchmark of 100 years e-
standard) brings to mind the comment McGuffey had about a "gourd full
of gnats."
Having gone through this discussion umpteen times on this and other
lists over the years, I have visited the various archivist websites
mentioned and what stands out is that the situation is analogous to
the war of the various computer systems competing for dominance in the
infancy of computers. And I still see that the thinking is dominated
by folks with a paper-based mentality rather than forward looking to
electronic solutions. Sure, if one sticks a 3.5" floppy on a shelf and
expects to read it 10 years later, one is absolutely pig-ignorant of
the media and gets exactly nothing unless one is very, very lucky. But
if you see it as migratable media and go back over it, one has useful
data.
Text based files, databases and the like aren't a particular problem.
Image files aren't a problem. In my world, CAD drawings that are put
into anything other than CAD go "flat" and have to be re-drawn if
needed for research. That's a problem. My simplistic solution is to
migrate my own files from the last 20 years into the next generation
or system of software and to keep them up to date. Surely if I can do
it, it can be done anywhere. At the macro level, there are programs
that do batch conversions now of image types.
And at the risk of accusation of putting forth a "just-so" story: I
have also witnessed the migration of the archaeological and
architectural history records data from the Department of Historic
Resources from their refusal in the early 1980's to embrace electronic
media to going with what was called IPS (Integrated Preservation
Software by the developer and Incredibly Persnickety Software by the
users) to the current imperfect but getting better DSS (Data Sharing
System?). IPS had an intentional bug in it whereby data migrated from
one field to the next unless the developer was there to "fix" it in a
timely fashion. When that was no longer possible, it took a while to
get it sorted out. But it did happen and those folks had no money but
the will to make it happen. It may not yet be perfect but it was
migrated from the old system to the new. The folks at DHR aren't
sitting around waiting for Godot, but rather are dealing with their
data and when a unified system comes along, it will undoubtedly be
moved across to it. In the meantime, research is better than it was by
a long shot.
After all, when it's electronic, it is migratable.
Lyle Browning
On Apr 3, 2008, at 10:48 AM, Vejnar Robert J. wrote:
> Sorry Mr. Browning, but you're wrong.
>
> Again, I urge anyone who is interested in really learning about all
> the
> problems associated with the simplistic answer Mr. Browning insists on
> offering to please consult the professionals at the Society of
> American
> Archivists or, if you prefer, the National Archives in Washington.
> Again, as far as I know, there are no American National Standards
> Institute (ANSI) standards regarding digitization as a means of
> preservation.
>
> Robert Vejnar
>
> Archivist
> Emory & Henry College Archives
> Holston Conference Archives
> P.O. Box 948
> Emory, Virginia 24327-0948
> 276-944-6668 - office
> 276-944-4592 - fax
> [log in to unmask]
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Discussion of research and writing about Virginia history
> [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Lyle E. Browning
> Sent: Thursday, April 03, 2008 10:42 AM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Despondent
>
> Not that old canard again;( Migration from one system to another these
> days is not a huge problem as it was in the "infancy" of computers.
> All those competing systems that wouldn't talk to another have now
> coalesced into a very few that do (well, mostly;). The problem was
> that the folks had a paper based archive mentality where you could
> toss something onto a shelf and let it sit and then pick it up and do
> something with it. Electronic media isn't like that. What should have
> happened was those e-archives should have been migrated to new media/
> systems when the new ones came out. Then it's not a big deal.
>
> I've moved from Radio Shack TRS-80 to IBM to Mac System 9 to Mac
> Classic to PowerMac to Intel Mac in systems and from 5.25 to 3.5 to
> hard drives and archivally from floppies to magneto-optical to CD/DVD
> in media. All those files are now in a couple of back-up hard drives
> and multiple CD's.
>
> Just because there wasn't forward planning 20 years ago doesn't
> preclude it happening now. Kodak doesn't make slide projectors
> anymore, buggywhip manufacturers are hard to find, etc. Tempus fugit
> and technology definitely fugit as well (this being the popular flies
> rather than the literal flees definition). Techno-luddites, please
> stand aside. The Roman army had a statement to the effect that those
> who said something couldn't be done should not be standing in the way
> of those who are doing it.
>
> As an archaeologist, one of the questions I am frequently asked is
> which era of the past I would most like to have lived in, given a
> choice. My response has always been not the past, but rather 200 years
> into the future when everything is digital and what is absurdly called
> research is really recognized for what it is and that is slogging
> through endless paperwork looking for gems after 100 other researchers
> have looked at exactly the same stuff and never recorded it
> electronically. Think about how many times the deed books at LVA have
> been gone over. If LVA had put computers in there for people to record
> just their own research, I daresay it would have a complete e-archive
> ready for use now 20 times over.
>
> Lyle Browning
>
> ______________________________________
> To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the
> instructions at
> http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|
