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Re: Archiving information within databases



What the heck, I'll wade into this.

Peter has it right when he says many databases will continue to evolve and
remain active within an organization for years, if not decades.  Customer,
personnel, etc. data will remain in use, continually updated over the
years.  This presents numerous headaches for us, but, to simplify for a
moment, let's assume that an archivist takes possession of an inactive
database, or a snapshot in time of an active database.  Part of this
discussion has focused on what constitutes "the record."  This is an
interesting legal and theoretical question, but however the record is
defined, the archivist needs to take similar practical steps to
contextualize and make available the database to researchers.  Where
feasible, it does make sense to capture the underlying tables, as well as
information about the views used by different units of the organization,
report templates, user manuals, etc.  Different elements of the system will
be useful depending on the research question posed.

On Monday morning the local professor of political history enters the
Yehuppitz Municipal Archives, to borrow Dan's town for a moment.  He is
writing "Voting Patterns in Greater Yehuppitz, 1990-2010."  Most likely, he
has little interest in what was seen by the town clerk versus the printer.
He wants to know how people on Elm Street voted in the mayoral race of
1990.  Thus, he wants to filter the data to answer his specific question.
How the information was kept in 1990 is of some interest in determining its
validity, but the main point of interest is the underlying data stored in
this information system.

On Monday afternoon, the professor of public policy stops in.  She is
writing "Overcounts, Undercounts, Miscounts: How Yehuppitz Government Got
the Election of 1990 All Wrong."  For her, the forms available to various
municipal employees is of intense interest.  Perhaps it makes a difference
that certain data elements were available to the Town Clerk, but not the
Board of Elections.  Maybe the report form used by the printer explains why
3,000 people said they never received their requested absentee ballot.

The challenges are immense.  If data is constantly being changed, is there
a revision trail?  Should the entire database be captured and the Archives
given intellectual custody on a regular basis?  Do the resources exist for
regular captures?  Or, if there is a good audit trail automatically
maintained by the system, should the Archives simply be treated as another
unit within the organization with (possibly limited) access to this
continually evolving entity?  What are the legal ramifications for any
given course of action?  It will undoubtedly take a bit of time,
experience, and a few mistakes along the way before the archivists find
their way through this electronic thicket.

Joseph M. Komljenovich
Assistant Archivist
Federal Reserve Bank of New York
Tel: (212) 720-8906
Fax: (212) 720-1749
joseph.komljenovich@ny.frb.org

Any comments or statements made in this transmission reflect the views of
the sender and are not necessarily the views of the Federal Reserve Bank of
New York.

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