The author gives the reader a history of electronic records management, and the points during the life of an electronic record when it is at risk of losing its authenticity. Bearman writes that "electronic records are at greatest risk of losing their "record-ness" at moments when they are transitioning between states, e.g. when control is being passed to different systems" (2006, p. 24). He constructs a model of the life of an electronic record that encompasses four stages- A Creation Environment; An Active Records Management Environment; An Archival Environment; and A Preservation Environment. With-in these environments there are six points that are particularly dangerous for the record's integrity. The author's model is shown below:
Bearman feels that a record is its most authentic at the moment of creation, and the first moment of risk is at capture where "the recipient may not set it aside or may alter it before setting it aside" (p.28). There are also risks at ingest that a record's metadata will not remain unaltered, and that it will not remain with the record. "Prior to transfer into a record-keeping system or to an archival environment, records are at risk of alteration, loss of identity or separation from metadata" (p. 31). During the preservation stage the record is at risk whenever it is transitioned to a new format. Finally, disposal poses the risk that some of the copies- especially those that have been printed out- are not properly disposed of.
Bearman pushes for a system where records are captured as close to the moment of creation as possible, where new actions generate new records, and where the original bit-stream is kept with the record as it moves to the preservation stage. The ideal underlying any strategy is that "Users wish to access records both during their active life and after they are declared archival. At either time, they require assurance that the records consulted are authentic and unaltered" (p. 38).
Managing the Long-term Preservation of Electronic Archives or Preserving the Medium and the Message:
In his article, Grimard proposes solutions to the three areas he sees as problems when preserving the contents of electronic records: changing the medium, standardizing formats, and conversion of the information (2005, p. 58). Grimard attacks the issues from an archival point of view that emphasizes the importance of being able to "transmit through time those significant electronic traces of ourselves which form part of a coherent information heritage" (p. 167).
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| P-4 How we store records now |
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| P-3 How we used to store records |
Grimard writes of the first problem- changing the medium- that "Unlike its paper counterpart, the electronic document does not possess any natural structure" (p. 157). At this point he makes it clear to the reader that the medium is the message. Both the message itself, and a way to decode the message are needed if we want to be able to preserve memory for future generations. Given the multiplicity of programs used to create information, Grimard proposes "transferring electronically generated information to microfiche" (p. 159).
The second issue- standardizing formats- is a problem given the variety of information needs that require an endless number of software formats. Grimard agrees with others in pushing for "standardization of formats for structured documents and their respective extensions used in hypertext documents" (p. 160). The standardized formats employ a method of parsing documents and offering a structural representation of their components. "The value lies in their independence from original hardware and programming" (p. 160).
Finally, when attacking the conversion of information, Grimard notes that "An electronic archival document is neither a finite nor static element" (p. 158). He agrees with many archival institutions that "conversion rather than preservation is the critical issue for future usability of electronic records"(p. 160). Complicating this is that from an archival standpoint, the context is as important as the content. "The strategy for keeping electronic records is a migration strategy; it's not a physical conservation strategy" (p. 167).
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