austraLasia #2222


Do you have a long-term email preservation policy?

ROME: 9th August 2008 -- This is by way of immediate follow up to #2221, since a similar issue lies behind it.  Over the past 12 months, the Congregation has dealt with in excess of 12,000 items of correspondence (snailmail) belonging to Salesians like Vincenzo Cimatti and Michael Rua, and ensured their relative perpetuity in digital form, i.e. ensured that they are preserved in their original form and made available and searchable in digital form.  But they were born as paper objects!  What could a researcher (for 'causes' good or bad) do in the future for correspondence that was born digital, as is most of our correspondence today?  The question is not just interesting, but vital - and maybe disturbing!  In practical terms, then, may I ask you a question: do you have a personal long-term preservation project for email?
    You use Gmail, Yahoo..... good, then you have some kind of preservation in operation, but in an ultimately public forum and one you certainly do not control; one too that is open to various legislations (or lack thereof) around the world to probe.
    You keep all email inside your existing email program.... good, for now.  But you will change that program in two, three years time; will you be able to ensure you can move all email across?  Would you even consider doing that? 
    You run certain emails off to paper copy.  Works so long as the only purpose is to be able to access the essential data, though it would not be of any legal value since a paper copy of an email is not legally acceptable.  Then of course, you need an additional filing system to handle your paper copies.
    You know a way to move your email (via 'save as') to an external folder which you then burn to a CD.  Better, much better.  Do you do that, though?  If you have no other system in place, at least consider that one!
    Which is where the system behind SDL comes in.  The system is known as Greenstone.  It is recognised as one of the three top worldwide systems for digital preservation (the other two being DSpace and Fedora) but by many as the best of the three because it is free, open source and cross-platform.  That's right, you can download it to your own computer be it PC, Mac, Linux or other.  It is fully self-contained; has its own inbuilt server, and would work as a preservation mechanism for any digital object, including emails, you have ever owned.  You can also subsequently run any collection off to a CD or DVD.
    It bears thinking about you know.  We Salesians could give the rest of the 'consecrated' world a lead in this area.  At no cost and without some impossible learning curve.  At least everyone knows how to 'save as' and burn a disk.  If you are prepared to try an ultimately better system which stands by all known digital standards, then 'Greenstone/SDL' is the way forward.  Please feel free to be in touch for additional consultation on these approaches.  One more service that austraLasia can, and will willingly offer.
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 AustraLasia is an email service for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific.  It also functions as an agency for ANS based in Rome.  For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com . Use Bosconet-wiki to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on austraLasia 2008 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser address bar - add it from there.  Avail yourself of the Salesian Digital Library at at http://sdl.sdb.org

Title: australasia 2222
Subject and key words: SDB General long-term email preservation
Date (year): 2008
ID: 2000-2099|2222