Dear all,
I have just taken a quick look at the MyLifeBits talk available on the
project page http://research.microsoft.com/barc/MediaPresence/MyLifeBits.asp
which is absolutely fascinating. I counted 44 slides, only one of
which touches on preservation issues - and then only to say that it is
an issue rather than offering any solutions.
That Microsoft have mentioned it at all can, I guess, be considered
something of a breakthrough but with the vast majority of the other 43
slides dedicated to either bulk-storage or search and retrieval
mechanisms it raises some interesting questions about the future of the
archive profession as we know it.
Appraisal and selection have traditionally been at the bedrock of what
we, as archivists, do. Sure we store things and we catalogue them but
it is our skill at objectively and systematically deciding on the
relative value of information and treating it accordingly - separating
the historical wheat from the chaff - which has always been at the core
of what we, as a profession do.
Now if you follow the MyLifeBits vision of the future such skill will
soon be redundent. Why bother trying to work out what to keep when you
can keep it all? Why waste your efforts on appraisal and selection
when it could be better spent refining search engines and the user
interfaces that will enable people to search literally everything they
have ever created or used?
Perhaps rather than spending our time worrying about semantics and the
'theft' of our professional vocabulary by the IT sector we should start
seriously considering just what the role of our profession in the
future will actually be.
Regards
Steve
Please note that these are my own views and do not necessarily
represent those of my employer
----------------------
Steve Bailey,
Records Manager
Joint Information Systems Committee
Tel: 07092 302850
Email: [log in to unmask]
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