Linked by Thom Holwerda on Mon 10th Nov 2008 09:13 UTC, submitted by irbis
What stands a better chance of surviving 50 years from now, a framed photograph or a 10-megabyte digital photo file on your computer's hard drive? The concern for archivists and information scientists is that, with ever-shifting platforms and file formats, much of the data we produce today could eventually fall into a black hole of inaccessibility.
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Member since:
2005-07-08
Yep, but moving to open data formats and standards when archiving and preserving important documents is still a huge step, and among the most important steps forward in solving the problems mentioned. Proprietary, locked and old data formats are likely and by far the biggest problem in the whole issue.
Like the article says, many archives and national governments have moved from prorietary data formats to open data formats for this exact reason.
But, of course, for example, CDs and magntic tapes may still corrupt over time etc.etc.