Twelfth International Conference on The Inclusive Museum

Abstract

Archives are filled with the objects that can be lost in future and play a significant role by assessing, acquiring, and preserving documents in a physical location so that history may be known and its evidence seen. In this manner, the past can be seen in the silent halls and stacks called archives where historians paid attention to preserve reality. There are instances that vanishing of archival records in Cologne, Germany, US national archives fire and destruction of Iraq National Museum that damaged over 15,000 artifacts. In this context, it is crystal clear the importance of archives and its responsibility in society. However, the question is not only to protect the analog data but also digital records. There are some uncertainties around born digital documents that are dynamic and always producing new information. The fear comes that if archives are not be able to preserve the digital documents then there will be a lost in future heritage, leading to a digital dark age. If careful preservation not made in time there will be a physical decay in analog documents and in the same vein, constant transcription are needed to preserve the digital information. There are uncertainties emerges when preserving analog or digital data. At this juncture, it is suggested to use hybrid method of archival storage by way of preserving analog information in digital way and digital information in analog way. These issues and this approach are discussed in this paper.