On 3/19/07, Roach, Bill <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Does the loss have to be permanent?
>
> I would have to rank the inability to access the records of the
> International Tracing Service in Bad Arolsen, Germany, to be one of the
> greatest record failures of all time.  While the records still exist and
> access may be forth coming, access for the individuals most affected by
> the events of the German Reich will come too late.
>
> http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2006-11-19-holocaust-papers_x.htm


Another similar, but different, case is the loss of the ability to access
countless records of the NASA space program from it's early years due to
degradation of media and obsolescence of both media and formats.

A similar situation has happened to much of the census data form two early
20th century reports.

Another would be the US Govt case against Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma
Federal Building bombing. which highlighted the FBI's inability to access
case files form multiple offices and present evidence in a timely manner for
the Justice Department's case.  And the subsequent funding of  $5 million to
build a replacement system that had to be scrapped and started all over
again, because of a failure to properly analyze the needs against the
capabilities of the system selected.

Larry

-- 
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972

List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance