Is there any time bomb in the library?

Is there any time bomb in the library?
JP/6/ROSA

Is there a time bomb in the library?

Rosa Widyawan
Jakarta

Transferring printed material into digital form has become a
main activity in large libraries here lately. The library of the
Indonesia National Armed Forces History Center (Perpustakaan
Pusat Sejarah TNI), Parahiyangan University, and the Center for
Scientific Documentation and Information -- Indonesian Institute
of Sciences), all have been transferring their collections,
including books, dissertations and patent documents, into digital
form using digital photocopiers or scanners.

It is not clear how many gigabytes of these digital documents
are stored in the library servers. They store digital collections
including electronic journals, books and images, some of which
are unprintable because of the complexity of the multimedia
applications involved. Moreover, these libraries also have
catalog and index databases, and other information retrieval
devices.

This does not mean that everything in the garden is rosy as a
digital document is susceptible to corruption so that it cannot
be read or accessed. The mass storage of digital documents in
libraries may represent a time bomb that threatens the long-term
viability of RI digital libraries. It is because the technology
of mass storage is developing fast, while the technology and
methods for preserving the digital documents is being left
behind. The ability to create, a mass and storage digital
material far exceeds current capacity to preserve small amount
with continuing value.

A digital document is similar to a paper-based document, which
can deteriorate on account of internal aspects, such as the
physical substance of the document, as well as external reasons,
such as insect attack, light, temperature, etc. Librarians have
long been combating the deterioration of paper-based documents,
and various types of film and other fragile items. Now they are
facing magnetic and optical media that have different
characteristics. These optical and magnetic media are reusable
and deteriorate rapidly in the space of years, not decades.

It is important to pay close attention to the media used,
although the technology is consistently improving. Magnetic media
can now be used for between 10 and 30 years if stored and handled
properly. There is also optical discs being developed that should
last for 100 years, but these are still at the laboratory stage,
and have not been tested in tropical climates where temperature,
light and humidity levels could play havoc with the discs.

The second problem is development of hardware followed by new
version software. Unfortunately the old versions cannot read
information written in new version format. The Indonesia digital
world seems to be standing still. There has been no reaction to
this potential threat and digitizing continues apace without any
signs of concern.

Digital information managers in the United Stated realize that
digital preservation is like time bomb. So, they conduct routine
maintenance for byte flow over the long run and accessibility to
intellectual content in line with the developments taking place
in information technology. In November 2000, the Library of
Congress (LoC) took action to archive a web site related to
Clinton that turned out to be easy to be hacked into. Recently
the LoC has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to preserve
government digital documents. Meanwhile in the Netherlands, the
NEDLIB project is trying to find a solution to the problems
arising out of the storing of legal documents, while the British
library has allocated 20 million pounds sterling for digital
storage.

It is true that digital preservation is a big problem in this
archipelago due to financial limitations. Nevertheless, some
digital preservation steps can be taken and relatively little
cost.

First, using appropriate hardware according to standard
specifications, followed by standard operating procedures and
routine housekeeping. In other words, ensure that the hardware
and software are capable of operating and providing data. If a
new version is developed, we must undertake migration, or
reformat the data. Carrying out migration without a priority
drive is an expensive process as it is time consuming.

Another alternative is to develop hardware or software that
can imitate the functions of the new hardware and software in
running the program, such as a Mackintosh running Windows. This
is called emulation and requires data to be stored in original
format, software to be stored with full documentation, and
hardware to be built to emulate the original machines. Of course
it is difficult to estimate how much money this would cost, and
its long-term implication are unclear.

Probably it is a little premature to start worrying about
digital preservation in Indonesia. So, let us hope that the time
bomb scenario is merely a product of overanxiety.

The writer is a librarian at PDII-LIPI. She can be reached at
rosa@pdii.lipi.go.id.