And if you are lucky the punch(ed) cards might even have the code printed
across the to top - some punch card machines I dealt with back in college
had that feature.
Tod Chernikoff, CRM
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of A.Khramtsovsky
Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2006 1:31 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [RM] Question
Dear Deborah,
> Yes I heard of the punch cards but thought we couldnt read them because
> the hardware can not be found? Is this true. Deborah <
Some organizations (including NARA) still have functional card readers. And
you can read the card "manually" if necessary, the encodings can be found in
reference books :)
> But, if the magnetic tape is not fully readable and in some sort of format
> that can be read, do you believe the information can be retrieved and
> undestood, adding the fact that the program is probably not functional as
> well. <
I'd say it would be costly. With proper funding and commitment we humans can
do amazing things including reading obsolete magnetic tapes. See an example
here:
http://www.freegovinfo.info/node/118
Regards,
Natasha
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