[AT] Atis outage - the details

[Larry Goss]

You're right, John.  Two of the Federal censuses are already inaccessible because of that (1950 and 1960.)  It really surprises me when professional archivists give me a blank look when I ask them about media migration for digital archiving systems.  Last summer, I talked with an archivist in Chicago who had "solved the problem" by simply resolving that she would archive nothing that wasn't originally printed on paper!  I was tempted to ask her what rock she had been hiding under for the last few decades?

As much as we may dislike having to look at what the Federal government does and following their lead, they actually have more practice and experience at this than almost any other source.  The Hollerith code for punched computer cards was developed for the 1890 Federal census.  Never mind that that census is the only one that is COMPLETELY lost to us -- because it burned!

Larry

----- Original Message -----
From: John Slavin <chaunceyjb at sbcglobal.net>
Date: Tuesday, January 18, 2011 11:35
Subject: Re: [AT] Atis outage - the details
To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com

> You know I don't hear it talked about much in the circles I 
> frequent  
> (although I imagine it's a hot topic in the IT world), but we're 
> going  
> to be in a real pickle when old systems go down and no one knows 
> how  
> to fix them.  Or we (as a society) need some information 
> off an  
> archive that we learn is based on a program that nobody has anymore.
> 
> John Slavin
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