Are We Losing our Memory?

How do you preserve the past before the records of the past deteriorates into nothingness? In the bowels of the National Archives’ new building exists the Department of Special Media Preservation. The head of the department is a Charles Mayn, a computer engineer who leads a team in transferring information from obsolete technology to more stable modern formats with the goal of attempting to preserve the past in what has become a futile battle. At issue is the stability of modern information storage. With the technological advancement of storage devices the information contained has become less stable, ancient clay tablets that were used to write information are on display in museums where as today’s digital storage devices need to be replaced within 20 years.

Hampering this preservation is the fact that government agencies use different formatted computer systems for database storage causing a logistical nightmare for the Archives, including the National Military Command Center NIPS database that is no longer supported by IBM, which contains herbicide records related to Agent Orange. The present Archives systems were not made to handle the amount of data presently being produced, e.g. 6 million electronic files a year from the White House alone. All the additional data coming through could lead the Archives system to crash; a system designed to handle 10,000 messages a year without the ability to upgrade to the needed minimum of 1 million.

Another issue that plagues the department is that everyone wants the data preserved but no one is willing to pay to do it. Though decisions will need to be made about what data should be saved and what should be allowed to deteriorate in oblivion. In the end the decision of what to preserve may depend upon popularity such as with Homer.