Appraising Machine-Readable Records

Abstract

MACHINE-READABLE RECORDS ARE DEFINED as records created for by a computer. While this definition encompasses a wide variety of storage media including punched cards, magnetic discs, cassettes, and paper tape, the vast majority of machine-readable records are stored on magnetic computer tape. It is reasonable to anticipate that, over the next decade, on-line storage and retrieval devices with random access capability will replace magnetic tape as the primary storage medium. This suggests the possibility that new computer storage technology will radically alter the appraisal of machine-readable records. Current appraisal practices of machine-readable records differ in significant ways from those for textual records; and as computer technology progresses these differences will become even more pronounced. Indeed, it is likely that current practices and standards will be obsolete and irrelevant within a decade. It is quite costly to accession and preserve properly a single reel of computer tape. The proliferation of on-line data base management systems will make this process even more expensive, and costs will receive even greater consideration in appraisal decisions. As a result, the consequences of the rationalization (in the British sense) of the records retention process will become more evident, to the discomfort of archivists and researchers. These possibilities suggest or imply a number of points that merit consideration. The standards and practices now employed in the Machine-Readable Archives Division of the National Archives and Records Service, with attention to the changes likely to occur within the next decade, provide the context for this consideration. Since 1969 the staff of the National Archives has appraised machine-readable records and thereby contributed to the refinement of certain concepts and criteria that comprise the present of the art, as it were. A delineation of the sequence of decisions involved in the appraisal of machine-readable records can convey the current state of the art. The first decision—whether a file will be appraised—is left largely to agency records officers. A disposition schedule for machine-readable records identifies categories of disposable and non-disposable computer tape The former, consisting of files that range from initial data input to update transactions, are automatically disposable without regard to subject matter. In most federal agencies at least 60 percent of computer tape files are disposable as processing files. Most non-disposable files, which must be offered to the National

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