Websites 'must be saved for history', by David Smith, The Observer via The Guardian (Jan 25)
The ephemeral web and digital information stores present serious concerns for historians in the future.
"Historians have become increasingly concerned that while the Domesday Book, written on sheepskin in 1086, is still easily accessible, the software for many decade-old computer files - including thousands of government records - already renders them unreadable. The ephemera of emails, text messages and online video add to the headache of the 21st-century archivist."
Lynne Brindley, the head of the British Library, warns of gaps in the national memory and has proposed that "the British Library as the repository that will ensure emails and websites are preserved as reliably as manuscripts and books."
Let's hope that the Canadian government notes this and funds Library and Archives Canada for a project to preserve our national memory.
Posted by Gwen at January 25, 2009 12:13 PM