I agree, Larry - potayto vs. potahtoe. In the federal definition you
cited, this is an example of "context":
"...made or received by an agency of the United States Government under
Federal law or in connection with the transaction of public
business...."
I think context is as important as content, and perhaps is taken for
granted because it is, to a certain extent, invisible and a reflection
of the environments we work in, and the processes we use. It's the
things we take for granted that come back to bite us. One of the
repeated frustrations in archives is the degree to which historic
collections have been taken out of their original context (for example,
to create a consolidated photo collection), and provenance has been
lost.
Just following up as, in my opinion, one of the dangers of cloud
computing is the possibility that data will linger and be used out of
its original context in ways that are damaging to businesses,
individuals, even society. De-contextualized information will be used to
"prove" things or write "history". This is of particular concern when we
start talking about data profiling for law enforcement or other
purposes. An obvious example is the way facebook pages may be taken out
of the context of youthful exuberance and experimentation, and used in
an entirely different context to haunt an adult professional career.
The ability to de-contextualize bodies of work to create something new
is considered a hallmark of creative societies: Hip hop does it with
sampling; Shakespeare did it with older plays at the time. However, it's
not necessarily something you want to happen to your business records in
ways that you can't control. On the other hand, it may be something you
want to have happen to data you do control: think knowledge management
and data warehouses.
Dwight Wallis, CRM
Records Administrator
Multnomah County Fleet, Records, Electronics, Distribution and Stores
(FREDS)
1620 S.E. 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
Phone: (503)988-3741
Fax: (503)988-3754
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