I was asked to post this by Mr. Glynn in response to our discussion as 
when he tried to reply to the List he was blocked.  I suspect his 
records manager showed him the discussion and he wished to make a 
comment.

While this may be somewhat of a marketing plug for his company I 
believe this is worthwhile to add to our contact lists as a day may 
come where someone walks in with some critical media and says we cannot 
read this!  Panic! Tantrum to follow! Legal becomes involved and the 
CIO  or SOX Auditor says to the IT Manager and the Records Manager "How 
can this happen?  Why are we storing records we cannot read?!!"

So Mr. Glynn's contact information may come in handy some day.  If 
anyone else knows of another company that does this sort of service I 
would like to have a couple contacts in my data base.  When the crucial 
day comes, and with IT saving media they know longer even recognize, 
this service will be critical to some of us at some point in time.  
Sometimes knowing exactly who to contact is a set of valuable skills to 
have.

Disclaimer:  I do not know Mr. Glynn, and until today did not know of 
his company and his company's relationship with the premier archival 
groups described below.  Since ours is an open forum, I felt this was 
worth forwarding on per Mr. Glynn's request.  In a conversation I had 
with the CFO of a top three accounting firm, hanging onto this old 
media that is long pasts its viability or migration capability is a 
ticking time bomb.  SOX is turning a poor management strategy into a 
criminal offense.  When will this bomb go off, when the auditor or a 
stockholder claims and irregularity and starts a more thorough 
investigation. ARMA and the List should try to be a harbinger of this 
message to management and thereby establish your role as the watchdog 
of the entire vital records and media platform.

As for me, Tessella is now in my address book.  When I save somebody's 
big fat........
salary and job, I will be a hero.

What did you think I was going to put after big fat ____?

Has anybody ever had to participate in such a recovery of data?  If so, 
were you asked to be a witness for third party credibility?
We recently had a drive crater and we had to use a company to rebuild 
the computer and we got a taste of our own medicine as we almost lost 
financial records but we were able to rebuild the server as it turned 
out to be mechanical and not a loss of data.  We were on the verge of 
sending it to a federal agency that can do this work when we found out 
the problem.

Hugh Smith
FIRELOCK Fireproof Modular Vaults
[log in to unmask]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Obsolete File Formats
>
> Dear Hugh,
>
> Further to your e-mail on the Records management forum I tried to 
> respond but have been defeated so will send it to you directly, if you 
> believe this to be of interest to others on the forum please post it.
>
> The UK National Archives employed us to develop a system called DROID 
> (Digital Record Object Identification) which is a tool that will 
> automatically identify file types and formats and give advice on how 
> these may be opened.The registry of file types is continually growing 
> and being added to but most importantly is freely available:
>
> http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/aboutapps/pronom/tools.htm
>
> As a company we have worked extensively on digital preservation 
> methodologies and architecture and are currently working on the ERA 
> for NARA due to the fact we have worked on the following projects:
>
> UK National Archive- DROID and PRONOM
>  US National Archive Records Administration (NARA) Electronic Records 
> Archive (ERA) in conjunction with Lockheed Martin
>  Dutch Test bed study and emulation feasibility study
>  Preservation systems for global pharmaceutical companies
>
> Please visit: 
> http://www.tessella.com/Services/Discipline/digital_preservation.htm 
> for further information.
>
> If you would like any further information do please contact me.
>
> Kind regards
>
> James Glynn
> +44 (0)1235 55 55 11
>  www.tessella.com
>
>  The information in this message is commercial in confidence and may 
> be privileged.  It is intended for the addressee(s) only.  Access to 
> this message by anyone else is strictly prohibited.  If you have 
> received this message in error, please inform the sender 
> immediately.Please note that messages sent or received by the Tessella 
> e-mail system may be monitored and stored in an information retrieval 
> system.
>
>  TESSELLA   [log in to unmask]
> Tessella Support Services plc
> 3 Vineyard Chambers, ABINGDON, OX14 3PX, England
> Tel: (44)(0)1235-555511  Fax: (44)(0)1235-553301
> www.tessella.com    Registered in England No. 1466429

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