Re: [ARSCLIST] Mass Digitization

["Steven C. Barr(x)" <stevenc@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andes, Donald" <Donald.Andes@xxxxxxxxxx>
> 5) And finally to address your last statement:
> I think the archiving world has it's blinders on, and needs to pull
> back, rationalize a bit, and find it's place in the modern world of
> business, technology, culture, and government. It's not effort or caring
> that this industry lacks; it's scope, direction and rational.
> Don Andes
> Director of Archives
> EMI Music
> 
This falls back on something that I (with tongue fixed firmly in cheek)
refer to as "Barr's Thirteenth Law Of Archiving" (note that the name is
NOT serious, but the content is VERY seriously meant...!):

To wit:

99% of any body of data which is placed in any archival dataset will
never be accessed again, and thus its preservation is effectively
useless work; however, the remaining 1% will be of high value and
quite possibly be essential to future generations. The difficulty
is that there is NO known method into which of these two groups a
given item of data will fall...!

Steven C. Barr