Abstract
There is mounting concern that, due to the rapid pace of technological advancement and the volatile nature of digital media, electronic records of enduring value will be lost if they are not identified for preservation and managed accordingly. If this issue remains unresolved, organizations face a future digital dark age where valuable information assets and cultural history are lost forever. This paper explores the digital preservation need with respect to public higher education institutions through literature review and a survey of practitioners. Several major government-sponsored projects were reviewed, providing insights into the complexity and scale of the issue with none of the projects able to fully address all issues. Results indicate that organizations are insufficiently prepared to identify electronic records of enduring value so that digital preservation techniques may be applied. Recommendations are provided for Information Systems professionals to address this burgeoning need.
Recommended Citation
West, Brent, "The Digital Dark Ages: Preserving History in the Era of Electronic Records" (2014). MWAIS 2014 Proceedings. 12.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/mwais2014/12