collections/records are in the act of ....

[Chris J. Durden]

Michael,
    I disagree. As biological curators we do not need additional 
obligations of equipment maintenance and conservation. Printed and written 
records have served us well for several thousand years. I see no reason to 
abandon that format now.
    Electronic methods of data storage and access have provided us with 
magnificent tools for data capture, manipulation, standardization, 
matching, recognition that is fast. They have not provided us with a 
century standard of international data preservation. I think it is 
wonderful to publish a data-filled report using current state-of-the-art 
technology, but, without a companion printed permanent record (illustrated 
book) this is ultimately a non-publication because stored copies that are 
decades old or centuries old will be unreadable with the state-of-the-art 
technology of that future time.
    I too have a Kallikac-style shed full of defunct equipment, but I have 
maintained an operating thread of data transcribability from CP/M and OS/9 
to WindowsME. I feel that I have squandered a lot of time that would have 
otherwise been devoted to descriptive science, just trying to use modern 
methods. I have also spent the equivalent of several specimen cabinets 
filled with Cornell drawers and unit trays while following the wild hare of 
computerization. Maybe I can recoup some of this on E-Bay when I sell my 
Osborne schematic chart that is signed by Adam Osborne.
.........Chris Durden

At 05:04 AM 7/31/2001 -0400, you wrote:
>Harry,
>
>I agree that scanning and electronic documentation of specimens is a
>valuable undertaking; that is if we assume that the collection catalogue
>has already been data-based (a valuable neologism).
>
>But as you say the permanency of electronic data is in question for
>various reasons.
>
>I have large quantities of data on punch cards (but alas, no punch card
>reader). I have 8" floppies for my PDP-8 which languishes in my son's
>basement.
>
>I have 5 1/4 inch floppies filled with text and data generated on a
>CPM-based operating system which we were assured in 1980 would be the
>state of the art.
>
>If you bought beta-max you know what I mean.
>
>Yesterday I went to order a new laptop with a very fast CD-rom drive and
>was told that was on it's way to be obsolete.
>
>So electronic media really need to be curated as vigorously as the
>specimens themselves.
>
>Mike Gochfeld
>
>
>  ------------------------------------------------------------



 
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