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Document Archiving Issues in the Digital Age
By Sarah Templeton Wilson

Planning paperless-offices or retaining records for finance and ISO auditing: we no longer live in an analog society. Technological advancements have caused businesses to change and adapt to the market demand for efficiency and innovation. The advent of the digital age has brought great tools to modern businesses, but it has also had unintended effects. The digital revolution opened the door for incredible losses of information. While companies relish opportunities afforded by computers and the Internet, archivists and preservation specialists continue to debate at conferences how best to contend with the impending loss of information.

Business archives of the past contained carbon copies, file photos, and model prototypes. The quick evolution of digital era technology has produced a myriad of format styles, operating systems, hardware, and software. Most of these were never widely used or were quickly abandoned in favor of a new method. Technological change has happened many times in the modern history from Guttenberg’s press to the advent of the photography, yet digital technology is different. For the first time we have converted to a system that is not readable to the human eye; we utilize the intermediary of the machine. What does this mean for the preservation professional as well as the individual? It means that the development of preservation strategies have become essential to the planning and implementation of every aspect of business.

In recent years, standards for the digitization of material and the capturing of information have been developed by various organizations such as the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Society for American Archivists (SAA), and the American Library Association (ALA). Businesses, however, are not as practiced in the archival arts. Yet, it is even more essential for this sector because of their emphasis on using digital information technologies to store large amounts of information economically and efficiently. Businesses are more likely to be the first to except the newest trends in digital media to keep their competitive edge, which is less important to the not-for-profit sector. Driven by the bottom-line technologically savvy businesses were among the first reduce the output of paper records to cut costs and improve the delivery of services to their clients. In doing so, however, business plans need make sure they are utilizing technologies, which will make the information retrievable in an efficient manner.

Companies must first begin by doing their research. The decision to commit to a particular data storage plan should be approached in the same way a company approaches a new product or business plan. First your must identify your needs and look where other businesses in your sector are headed. Be cognizant of the potentiality of technological obsolescence, inconsistent equipment performance specifications, incompatible new products, and a shortage of technical and administrative standards. Secondly, a realistic goal must be set. It the new digital era, companies should no longer look for a permanent solution, but instead for long-term value. This should be determined specifically by the use of the material being stored.

Today’s business sector is a unique position in the archival world. They have all the tools to create an insightful plan, which many libraries and archives lack: an awareness of the marketplace, a goal for the information beyond preservation, and flexibility in their decisions.

The reluctance to spend to spend the time and capital on the project is the only draw back.

The most successful policies are those developed jointly by the administrators, information management specialists, and records managers. This ensures that the correct long-term commitment can be made, enabling that consistent follow-thru essential to a success. A commitment to an open-system, or nonproprietary, design that accepts future hardware and software upgrades allows the preservation plan to focus on the methodical approach.

Access to documentation of business materials and records can be essential in today’s marketplace. Many business records managers are concerned about the legal admissibility digital records in a court of law, and being able to access material when called upon for legal proof in patent controversies. By following standard methods of record keeping and following a consistent plan companies can rely on their information being available in the future