Authentic Electronic Records: Strategies for Long-Term Access.

TITLE: Authentic Electronic Records: Strategies for Long-Term Access

AUTHOR: Charles Dollar

PUBLISHER: Cohasset Associates, Inc.

PUBLICATION DATE: 2000

LENGTH: 248 pages

PRICE: $78

SOURCE: ARMA International Bookstore, www.arma.org or 888/241-0598, or from publisher

More than 80% of the information in the workplace is being created electronically. What do we do, then, if the information has a 25-year retention period or is an archival record? We all face the challenges. How do we develop a strategy to make sure we can retrieve the records in 10, 20, or 30 years? What are the criteria to be considered? How do we ensure that the medium doesn't self-destruct in the long-term? Should we plan for migration?

Charles Dollar's Authentic Electronic Records: Strategies for Long-Term Access provides insight on "how a storage repository can provide access to electronic records that are no longer required for current operations and that have been retained for future use." Contrary to what one might expect from the title, the publication does not deal with building recordkeeping requirements into the systems design and development process or with maintaining electronic records in the operational environment. Instead, Dollar's focus is on planning for physical storage of electronic records and dealing with the technical challenges of ensuring long-term access.

The publication is broken into three parts: four chapters deal with conceptual foundations; options for long-term access; best practices, guidelines and recommendations, and an agenda for action. Seven appendixes and a bibliography provide the reader with additional references to help locate additional support material on the topic. Each chapter includes an introduction to the issues, a brief discussion of each issue, and a chapter summary -- all in a format that is easy to read. The endnotes document sources as well as provide details about where to find more information.

The first chapter outlines eight electronic records research projects that have been the basis of many recent publications and facilitated standards development in several countries. It also provides brief descriptions of nine related issues from an archival science perspective, answering such questions as: What is a document? What is a record? What are authentic records? What is migration?

Chapter two includes reformatting, copying, converting, and migrating electronic records as alternative approaches for dealing with changing technologies and media obsolescence and presents some advantages and disadvantages of each option. The chapter brings together media-related research and standards from several different sources and provides a good summary of reference material related to longterm access and preservation.

Chapter three, "Best Practices, Guidelines and Recommendations," offers brief overviews and recommendations about quality control, security, environmental controls, monitoring, and various transfer and migration methods that must be considered. Each section includes information about a technical standard or a concept that has been applied in organizations with established electronic records storage repositories.

In chapter four, an "Agenda for Action," Dollar suggests that further research should be undertaken in the area of digital preservation.

The 15-page bibliography provides references to standards, workshop and seminar proceedings, and reports, publications, and articles on electronic recordkeeping principles and practices. The sources are global and reflect the broad scope, interest, and research in electronic records. The appendixes include a technology primer for archivists and records managers, excerpts from several reports and studies, samples of electronic records cost estimates, and media life expectancy information.

Electronic records will have to be preserved and accessed over time. As more and more information is created and stored electronically and as the pace of change in technology and media formats continues, longterm access to and preservation of electronic records will be an integral part of a records and information management program. Even those archivists and records managers who do not develop their own electronic records repositories will have to develop strategies to deal with their electronic records. Dollar's book provides a useful introduction for those new to electronic records who must now deal with these records at the end of the life cycle.

Christine Ardern is with Information Management Consulting of Canada. She may be reached at [e-mail].