Roy Rosenzweig and Preserving the Past in a Digital Age

Rosenzweig brings up a point that many historians have not thought of regarding Digital materials. Mainly, how do we preserve it? In addition, he illustrates the divide between archivists and historians and how these academics need to work together to solve the problem of scarcity in Digital materials.

One of the main problems that historians face in digital preservation remains the diverse collection of materials saved in various formats. It is not just a matter of preserving the digital record. It is the ability to read that material in its original format. This has been an issue that has continued to fester among librarians and archivists. Do we save an old Apple IIe? so that we can read the digital materials written in that format?? The question has gone unanswered. Especially since software companies are continually developing a new version of Wordperfect or Microsoft Word every 3 or 4 years. This is a matter that needs to be addressed. Even though Word has the ability to open documents from other word processing programs, that does not mean the information will be readable.

The second problem is that much of the archived information is in private hands. As Rosenzweig states in his work if some one complains the remove the offending page. The example of Julie Nixon complaining about her father's tapes being made public is a perfect example. For all the talk of the internet being a bastion of democratic ideas, this appears to be selective democracy. Of course, this is due to the private company archiving the materials. While this is a good idea,

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