apologies for any cross-posting
dear all
With thanks to Steve Bailey for drawing this to my attention - the following information may be of interest and useful to the list. The House of Common's Consitutional Affairs Committee Report on the first year of the FOIA has just been published http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmconst/991/99102.htm
Of particular interest are a couple of the conclusions of the Committee relating to records management and digital preservation issues, including:
"evidence suggests that records management practices in some public authorities need substantial improvement. More proactive leadership and progress management of departments' records management systems and compliance with the section 46 code is required. We note that the National Archives will, during 2006, make plans to assess authorities' compliance with the section 46 code of practice and we look forward to the publication of their findings at an early date."
44. The National Archives expressed concern to us about the long term preservation of digital records in government and pointed out that departments may be unable to comply with FOI requests relating to relatively recent electronic information because the data is no longer retrievable: Of particular importance in the FOI context is the development of digital preservation requirements in EDRM systems…Because of the ephemeral nature of digital records, they are likely to perish within a few years of their creation, unless active steps are taken to ensure their survival. In particular, there is a serious risk that FOI requests for information that is only a few years old and held in electronic form will simply not be retrievable. Unless processed, the information - originally held on disk or on tape - may have perished completely or may not be readable because it is kept on software that is seriously out of date.[46]
45. In some cases physical storage media may become damaged over time and, in others, the data becomes unreadable by newer technology unless it is converted. However, Baroness Ashton told us that she was confident that there was no significant problem: There is nothing that suggests to me that we have lost anything because as computer technology has moved along, we have found ways in which we have incorporated it…As I understand it all the software is migrated on to new software immediately…There is nowhere that I am picking up that this is a significant problem of any kind.[47]46.
The Minister's attitude that adequate processes for the long-term preservation of digital records are in place contrasts with the views of the National Archives. Her response to our questions does not accord with the widely recognised view among industry specialists that digital preservation of records is a complex and urgent problem to which no satisfactory long-term strategy has been found. Difficulties in accessing older electronic records could soon become a serious problem for government departments. There is a serious possibility that material over 10 years old will essentially be irretrievable in the near future and complacency about this is not acceptable. Plans are needed to handle the rapid and significant changes in technology and the inevitable degradation of storage media. National Archives and the DCA must take the lead in developing such plans. We will monitor progress on this issue.
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