use of electronic materials

From: SMTP%"thardy[_at_]mail.wm.edu" 24-SEP-1993 17:58:29.45

   Mary Brandt Jensen spoke about preserving e-materials, and I    suggested that they did not deteriorate the way paper    materials do and so did not need the same statutory    provisions for archival copies.

   MBJ's reply is a good argument that I am wrong on the point:

> If the deterioration rationale does not apply to electronic copies,
> why then did CONTU recommend a backup right for software? The
> report indicates that it was specifically because of the fragile
> nature of electronic storage. Electronic copies do not deteriorate
> *if and only if* they are constantly refreshed by recopying (which
> happens to be technically reproduction). The U.S. government has
> released a number of reports on the fragility of electronic media.
>

Ok. I'll have to think more about it.

        --Trotter Hardy

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