Anne asked “what is the state of the electronic record as a permanent copy of record?” and “Am I a complete luddite? I do not trust an electronic record and a back up system to keep anything permanently.”

Anne, you are no luddite--you are a realist.

Records in electronic format will NEVER be a reliable method of preserving information for the very long term, BUT let's be real careful about defining what is meant by "long term" or "permanent".

If you're talking about 10 to 20 years, there's not likely to be a problem.

If you're talking about 100+ years (or "the life of the republic"), there's an insuperable set of problems, including (in no particular order):
*	People
*	Money
*	Will-power
*	Politics

You'll notice I didn't list "technology". This may or may not be a problem, but it's nothing compared to the others.

Or, as I put it in a presentation on digital preservation:
We don’t care enough
and
We don’t think ahead
so therefore
Executive management isn’t focussed on this issue, so no decision is made
so therefore
The money isn’t there
and
The follow up isn’t there
and therefore (conclusion)
It ain’t gonna happen!

If you really have to keep the records "permanently" (but do you REALLY?), stick with microfilm--but make sure you "do it right" all along the line.

An alternative to microfilm is permanent-record paper (ref. ANSI/NISO Z39.48 "Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives" and National Information Standards Organization - TR01 "Environmental Guidelines for the Storage of Paper Records"). (Sorry, Steve Whitaker—this is where paper beats out bits).

Best regards.

Fred
===================================================================
Frederic J. Grevin
Deputy Commissioner and Chief Information Officer
The City of New York,
Department of Records
Email: [log in to unmask]
Land phone: 212.788.8615
Cell phone: 347.436.5360
Fax:  212.788.8614
www.nyc.gov/records
31 Chambers Street
New York, NY 10007
USA