Dying Histories
NARA is struggling to preserve born digital materials. “NARA is confronting thousands of incompatible ditigal data formats cooked up by the computer industry over the past several decades, not to mention the limited lifespan of electronic storage media themselves. The most famous documents in NARA’s possession–the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights–were written on durable calfskin parchment and can safely recline for decades behind glass in a bath of argon gas. It will take a technological miracle to make digital data last that long.” ….NARA has hired two contractors–Harris Corporation and Lockheed Martin–to attempt that miracle. More at Technology Review