Re: Digital documents

["C. Klug" <cklug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

     I think the concerns regarding archivability of electronic
publications are certainly valid, but I think they are really the concerns
of the professional archivists rather than of the typical end user. 
Certainly the electronic librarian (if you can forgive this adjective/noun
association) will need to be concerned with the shelf life of the
particular digital media used.  Coding schemes and hardware needed for
reading and transferring data will also be important considerations. 
Platforms that will make that electronic data available to the largest
possible set of users will also be a concern.  But these are
considerations that most of us need not be concerned with directly.
     That is not to say that we will not be affected by their decisions. 
It is and will be necessary to maintain some degree of compatibility with
the electronic storage facilities in order to utilize those facilities.  I
expect that this compatibility will be maintained relatively painlessly
through occasional hardware and software upgrades.  For example, I doubt
that you would be reading this message if I were working with a Commodore
64.  (Well, maybe it's not so painless.  I'm still paying for this
computer.)  Even then, direct compatibility may not be necessary.  Data
conversion software or, if there is a sufficient market, data transfer
services will likely resolve these problems.  We, as individuals, will
have similar problems on a smaller scale as personal electronic libraries
grow.  For example, I am currently debating with myself whether or not to
invest in a zip drive to reduce an ever growing pile of floppies. 
     Widespread utilization of electronic publication, however, should
eliminate many of the archivability concerns that have been expressed.
Comparisons with data lost to other storage techniques (celluloid films,
magnetic tapes, outdated disk sizes, etc.)  are not really valid when
considering published electronic data.  In all of these cases, the data
were housed at a single or limited number of storage sites.  Electronic
publications would be potentially accessible to millions via the Internet.
As was pointed out in Tom Yancey's forwarded post, a local catastrophe may
wipe out a digital library, but that library could be reconstructed much
more readily than a traditional library through the electronic transfer of
the data stored in other electronic libraries (public or private).  In
essence, we will all become electronic archivists.  Almost every
publication will be available in a usable format from someone, somewhere.
With the global distribution of electronic publications, it is likely that
only the most mundane of publications (such as those on Devonian
palynology) will ever become electronically extinct.  Furthermore, paper
copy prints of the electronic publications are also likely to be
available. 
     Barring some sort of bizarre global catastrophe, such as erasure of
all electronic publications due to a reversal of Earth's magnetic poles, I
think most electronic publications will be with us for a long, long time.
I don't say there are no problems with electronic publication, but
archivability is not one I'm losing sleep over.  One concern I do have is
how can one be certain that a particular copy has not undergone
unauthorized or unintentional alteration? 
 
          Curt Klug (cklug@blue.weeg.uiowa.edu)