Hugh Smith wrote:
<Interestingly enough, we have a problem with the engraving on the
Tombstones fading away.
Some of the graves are well over 200 years old and the thin stone
tablets are abraded by wind and rain and you can barely read what is
engraved on the stone.  So much for stone as a permanent record.>

All life expectancy/stability/longevity standards for various media
require that the "permanent" record not be used for everyday information
retrieval and that it is considered suitable for XX number of years of
life only if manufactured according to certain criteria, in some cases
processed according to certain criteria, and stored under certain
environmental conditions.  I don't think exposure to nature's wrath and
variety of adverse conditions would qualify as condusive to long life
for the stone media.  8-)

Ginny Jones
(Virginia A. Jones, CRM)
Records Manager
Information Technology Division
Newport News Dept. of Public Utilities
Newport News, VA
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