Fred is right!  
For permanent electronic records, the threat of obsolescence comes from CPU hardware, peripheral hardware, operating systems, application software, file formats, storage media, etc. etc.
There is currently no cost-effective method for preserving digital files' usability for decades.
If your files are monochrome, have you considered microforms?  Those may last centuries, though that is still not permanent.  The pyramids of Egypt are relatively permanent.

Gordy
Gordon E.J. Hoke, CRM
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Waukegan, IL USA


-----Original Message-----
>From: Frederic Grevin <[log in to unmask]>
>>Subject: Re: Third category of destruction?
>
>Wayne, if the retention of the information on these records is truly PERMANENT, I most definitely would NOT destroy the paper records. 
>
>Nothing electronic comes even close to matching the durability and ease of preservation of good quality paper, properly stored.
>
>In effect, there's 
>- the EVIDENTIARY status (which is the official record?);
>- the ACCESS copy (electronic); and
>- the PRESERVATION copy (paper). Note that, in this context "preservation" is not used in the legal sense of preservation for discovery.
>
>It's the same information in different formats, so why bother to create multiple retention schedules?
>
>Best regards,
>
>Fred
>-----------------------------------------------------------
>

Gordon E.J. Hoke, CRM

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