How will the National Archives and Records Administration preserve the federal government's zillions of electronic records in an obsolescence-proof format? The agency chooses two contractors to bid the Electronic Records Archive.
Electrifying Data
How will the National Archives and Records Administration preserve the federal government's zillions of electronic records in an obsolescence-proof format? The agency chooses two contractors to bid the Electronic Records Archive.
By Diane Haddad
Faced with the problem of preserving the federal government's zillions of electronic records in an obsolescence-proof format, the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced that technology and communication systems companies Lockheed Martin and www.digitalarchives.wa.gov> works by “ingesting” electronic records generated by government offices, creating Web-viewable versions and storing the originals — all without human involvement. The searchable Web site debuted with marriage records from three counties (Chelan, Snohomish and Spokane) and a list of 16,000 elected officials sworn in from 1854 to 1978. Within 15 years, say archivists, Washington state's system could contain up to 800 terabytes (the equivalent of 200 billion pages) worth of public records.
From the February 2005 Family Tree Magazine
Hot Ticket
The National Genealogical Society hosts its Warm up Your Research conference in Phoenix.
By Diane Haddad
The National Genealogical Society (NGS) gives you an excuse to escape the cold this winter with its Warm up Your Research conference Jan. 20-22, 2005, in Phoenix. Conference workshops and lectures cover family history software, online research, professional genealogy, basic techniques and finding ethnic roots. Registration costs $185 for NGS members and $240 for nonmembers, or $125 per day. Call (800) 473-0060 for more information.