The Records of History's Future 

Electronic records are real records. It can be argued they are the future of the historical record. They represent a significantly growing area within archival practices, as archives must adapt to an increasingly digital landscape. But what exactly are electronic records? Electronic records refer to any records created or maintained in a digital format. They exist in a wide variety of formats depending on their content and purpose. Examples of these formats include standard text document files like PDFs and TXT files, image files such as PNG and GIF, and structured data stored in databases like SQL files. Understanding electronic records and engaging in digital preservation is essential if we do not want the historical record to end somewhere in the early 1990s. As the world becomes increasingly more reliant on digital methods of communication and record keeping, preserving electronic records becomes crucial to preserving history itself.

When it comes to preserving digital records your agency or office may want to maintain permanently, there are a few options. The best approach is to regularly disposition electronic records that you are no longer required to keep by law or in accordance with a retention schedule. Regular dispositions of electronic records can really keep storage costs manageable, and generally helps maintain an organized electronic environment. Another approach is to take advantage of cold storage which is generally less expensive. Electronic records that are not frequently used can be placed in cold storage for a lower cost, thereby freeing up room for electronic records that are more regularly accessed. Microfilm is another cost-effective method of storing records that are not in regular use, particularly for records that are permanent or critical. The State Imaging and Microfilm Lab has kept up with the changing technologies specializing in reformatting records by investing in state-of-the-art equipment which allows us to convert both digital records to analog and analog records to digital. The cost to convert digital files to microfilm is upfront and can be much more affordable than the cost to maintain electronic records. The cost to store microfilm also tends to be much lower – a bank safety deposit box, secure storage location in your office, or even storage with a trusted vendor are all generally very cost-effective methods.

The Electronic Records Program is continuously building and improving how we oversee digital preservation for our archival electronic records. There is no “set it and forget it” with electronic records; once at the archive, they are still vulnerable to bit rot and format obsolescence and need to be stored in a secure location. Fortunately, much of the challenges presented by older hardware and software can also be mitigated with hardware and software solutions designed for digital preservation. At the program level digital preservation requires technology, organization, and resources. At the record level, digital preservation requires storage, file integrity, and access. So with that being said, we built a designated server for storing archival records, we set up a disaster recovery plan in the event that we experience a hardware failure or disaster, we’re setting up a cloud solution to replicate our files to an additional offsite location, we are have policies and procedures in place processing, storing, and accessing electronic archival records. We are actively exploring preservation software to meet best practice standards for preserving archival records. We’re also looking to on board an online access tool so the public can explore or digital collections! In the meantime, users can find information about our born-digital collections in the Research Indiana Catalog.