|
Archivist and IT professionals do a lot of thinking about these issues and there are experts in most countries with the ability to read obsolete media and to convert obsolete file formats. Probably for a price, though...
My feeling is that the 'Digital Dark Age' notion is a scare tactic to rustle up some funding for digital preservation initiatives. If the information is important enough, a way will always be found to convert it into a readable form. Given the ease of duplication of digital material, my feeling is that archivists are more likely to be coping with a digital flood of material in the future (and trying to decide what on earth is worth keeping!).
Manda
|