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Virtual Reading Rooms: Providing electronic reference to electro nic records



Current reference demand for the few electronic records already in the
custody of the Archives of Ontario thankfully remains very low.  However,
due to the increasing use of technology for core businesses within the
Ontario Government, it is expected that neither the quantity of holdings
will remain small nor the requests for access to electronic records remain
low for very long.

To the best of my knowledge, current reference practice for electronic
records consists of providing a copy of the requested records for use
outside the archives, or in a few cases making databases accessible on the
Web.  Will this approach be appropriate to meet researcher expectations and
'best' archival practices (including the requirements of access and privacy
legislation) ten years from now?  Five years from now?

Will researchers be able to draw together at their research table records in
electronic format with those of more traditional media?  Will they be able
to operate copiers (perhaps a la microfilm printers)?  Will archival
electronic records be retrieved as physical or intellectual record
aggregations (e.g., containers or series), or will retrieval be done at a
document (or even more granular) level?  Will archival holdings all be
on-line or near-line and perhaps accessible via the Web or will the
appropriate tapes or disks have to be physically retrieved and the
appropriate file(s) uploaded?

What are institutions doing or what plans are in development to create the
'virtual reading room'?  What additional issues will archivists face in
providing access to electronic records?

<<<  Please forgive cross-postings  >>>

Jim Suderman
Electronic Records Program Coordinator
Archives of Ontario

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