Digitizing Archives Not So Easy
Millions of books in the Library of Congress have deteriorated to the point where they can't be lent to users without risking irreparable damage.
Centuries-old print newspaper archives have been replaced by blurry reels of outdated microfilm degraded from years of overuse and time worn chemicals.
With the limits of analog technology, some say that digital storage is the wave of the future.
"It's clear that our culture is moving towards electronic preservation," said Jack Rakove, a history and American studies professor at Stanford University. "It's cheaper, more efficient and easier to search."
But digital archiving technology is costly and relatively untested. And not everyone agrees that it's the best way to preserve the nation's historical records.
Recently, a digital-age copyright dispute sparked debate over the future of electronic archives.
A case heard in the Supreme Court, Tasini et al v. The New York Times et al that pits writers against publishers, could determine
If the writers prevail, publishers could delete thousands of electronic articles to avoid provoking new lawsuits. A group of historians, siding with the publishers, argued that such dissolution could cause permanent holes in the historical record.
"This result will have unexpected, unprecedented and irreversible consequences for the integrity and accessibility of the historical record and the progress of historical scholarship," the historians argued.
Historians have a lot to lose if a complete record of the present is not preserved.
"The integrity of the historical record is the single most important consideration," said David M. Kennedy, a history professor at Stanford University. "If you tamper with that, it's very difficult to reconstruct."
As the Web becomes a primary research tool, some say that digital archiving is the best way to preserve the present.
"Electronic archives look to be the most economical and secure way for securing the present," Rakove said. "If you want information, you don't go to the library, you go to the Web."
But others say that digitization is no panacea. Paper and microfilm remain the only proven forms of preservation.
"Digital archives are a bit of a misnomer in terms of what the preservation medium is today," said Miriam Nesbit, legislative counsel for the American Library Association. "The preservation medium right now is still microfilm."
Technology used to transmit digital information changes so rapidly that it's often difficult for those trying to preserve it to keep pace.